Artistic creativity is not always contained within a single genre. Sometimes, it is conveyed through multiple channels, blending mediums and platforms and, yet, following the same thematic idea. The creative mind stays the same. It’s just the means, through which that creativity is expressed, that changes. Vimal Chandran, a visual artist originally hailing from Kerala, falls categorically under this description. A talented illustrator and photographer, Chandran specializes in Visual Art in a manner that unifies his creative vision through diversified mediums. While that may sound contradictory, it is, in fact, one of the principles that Chandran follows in his work. ‘A bigger perspective on art’ is what drives him. It is an interesting philosophy, to say the least, one well worth taking a closer look at.
Keen on painting ever since his childhood, Chandran’s journey in visual art, according to him, has been a gradual one. While still in school, his interest in design was piqued by the idea of aesthetically pleasing typography. In fact, Chandran recalls his habit of writing, in different fonts, in his notebooks in an attempt to make them look appealing. Upon taking up Engineering later, he explored other channels of visual artistic content, dabbling in editing tools, such as photoshop, for institutional magazines and club programmes. Even later, while working in the software industry, Chandran decided to explore photography, an interest that merged well with his love for travelling. Evident as it is, his decision of focusing on visual art as a whole came with the prior experience of having engaged with its different formats. For him, the process of artistic creation is what the focus is on. The work, the end product may be conveyed through myriad shapes but the idea behind it, decidedly, remains the same.
Indeed, it was not a swift acting catalyst that prompted the man to pursue the field of Visual Art. It was a slow burning interest that drove and evolved his own style in the medium, from his childhood interest in painting to his exploration of photography later on. It all, finally, culminated in him quitting his job to completely devote himself to his passion.
It is, perhaps, a residual effect of Chandran’s own journey that influences his outlook on art and life in general. Throughout his journey, Chandran has evolved his own style in visual art, be it photography or illustration, through a continuous process of trial and error. As he explains, there is a learning curve to almost everything. That period of learning is what is crucial. Mistakes during that period are crucial. It is through these mistakes that the right voice is born. Your own personal voice. Enjoying that whole process of learning, failing and then working on what we failed in, is what’s important. As he states, merely sticking to the conventional means of doing anything and not attempting something in a manner that has not been done before will not foster growth or evolution.
“The journey is important and the destination doesn’t matter as long as you are moving.”
Vimal Chandran
True to his approach to creating art, Chandran, outright, refuses to assign a fixed meaning to his work. Instead, he leaves it to the viewer, the audience to derive their own meaning. That, according to him, is their own journey to make.
What is really fascinating is the manner in which Chandran draws his own inspiration. As an artist who incorporates different formats in creating artistic pieces, it is no surprise that his own inspiration comes from a multitude of sources, ranging from classical paintings to, even, memes. It is this recognition of artistic talent, regardless of what the channel may be, that truly sets him apart. After all, that talent, as he believes, comes from hours and hours of persistent work.
“I don’t think talent is innate and natural. It’s actually thousands of hours of persistent work.”
Vimal Chandran
There is a sense of curated randomness in Chandran’s work. It is not, however, by any means, a chaotic randomness. It is an irregularity that gave birth to his own style and, that, is what truly binds it all. At the end of the day, art does exist in countless forms. It is only an idea or a creative vision that is uniform. And, if you look closer at the different pieces Chandran has created, you can clearly see a singular creative mind churning out beautiful ideas.
