Celluloid dreams

KOCHI: Through her digital art, Ann Alex shares a slew of interesting stories. Her favourite characters from the movies she watched or the books she read come alive through them, with a new experience to share. In her recent series on fisherwomen, Kanchana from Thalayana Manthram who makes signature Konju Theeyal, and Karthumbi from Thenmavin Kombath with a pet crow Ikru, are sisters who sell fish at the market.  

The ongoing series was born out of her love for fish and seafood. “During the lockdown, I was in Bengaluru. I was missing food from back home and felt extremely homesick. I couldn’t eat the food I wanted so I started drawing them,” quips the Thiruvananthapuram-native.

“I consider characters like Karthumbi to be cult female figures. Women with individuality and quirks. In my imagination, they all live in a village and know each other has their own stories, that I am trying to tell,” Ann explains. She has already developed ten more characters for the series. “They are brave women, not doe-eyed ladies,” she adds. 

She takes a long time to finish each work, and savours each stroke and colour. In another series, she paints covers of books close to her heart. From Alice in Wonderland and Heidi to The God of Small Things, a favourite, her covers are filled with interesting details. In her version of The God of Small Things, Ann reimagines the home of Rahel and Estha at the bank of Meenachil, and Ammu and Velutha are watching over from the photo frame hanging on the wall. 

Ann used to paint since she was in kindergarten. She never studied art professionally but observed her father, who was a painter and learned on her own. She started connecting art to better while studying animation at the National Institute of Design (NID). “My professor used to stress that we need to tell our stories, our culture, what is familiar to us,” she says.