Art that’s chic

KOCHI: Navigating the big bad world of today is anything but easy. And if you are a 20-something woman making sense of relationships, career, friends and family, things can get a little too overwhelming. How many times have we felt the need for a break or just wanted to shut ourselves in a room not wanting to deal with others. The bottom-line is, adulting is hard and perhaps the only thing that provides some solace is finding that we are not alone. Stumbling upon a meme, a post or a comic online that seems to capture everything our life currently is the difference between a good and a bad day. For Kochi-based illustrator Greeshma Mohan, drawing her feelings was one way to traverse the mess.

Greeshma’s Instagram feed is replete with content that is extremely relatable. She captures every quirk of young, urban and educated women today seething with quite rebellion. Her protagonists are risk-takers, go-getters and most importantly never bow to what society throws at them. They are brazen about their sexuality, not coy about their vices and ooze sass. 

“I have been drawing since I was very young. It is a therapeutic exercise for me. Some of my friends enjoy my art and that prompted me to put what I create on a public platform. I don’t care about followers, it is just a way of documentation. I always draw female characters because I enjoy it. I think I can really experiment while drawing women. I can make them as diverse as I want. Also as a women myself, I am familiar with the female body,” says Greeshma, who recently graduated from IIT Guwahati with a bachelors of design degree.

Greeshma’s recent foray into comics reflect episodes from a typical young-adult life with biting humour. “I have been wanting to experiment with comics for a while but I have a weird sense of humour and I wasn’t sure how they would be received. But my friends had very positive things to say. I have surprisingly received encouraging feedback since I have published my one-frame comics.

I would like to experiment more in the genre. The format as such is very engaging because the text provides context. Also I think comics fit perfectly with my style of drawing that is simple and minimal,” adds the 22-year-old. A impulsive creator by her own admission, Greeshma plans to experiment with longer comic narratives.Find her art on Instagram @the_seasonal_artist