Hoame_and_Desigm1
Hoame_and_Desigm1

Confessions of a cycling artist from Mylapore, Chennai

Bhavya Desai,  takes us on a trip to Mylapore as he speaks about its charm and how it inspires him to make more art.

If you spot a bespectacled, wide-eyed boy cycling his way through the meandering streets of Mylapore, stopping every now and then to intently scribble away in his notebook – chances are you're looking at 25-year-old Bhavya Desai. The architect and illustrator heads to tank area often to find inspiration and stories from the everyday hustle and bustle of Mylapore.

Bhavya Desai's tryst with art started at The School KFI in 2010. "They gave me room to observe, evolve and create art rather than being told what to sketch," says Bhavya. He graduated in 3D animation from ICAT design and media college and started working at an architecture firm as a 3D visualiser. Born to artist Kuntal Desai of Atelier Kuntal, illustration did not come easy to Bhavya. "Yes, it ran in the blood but my real life portraits would look like cartoons by default. It took me over five years to develop a style and create my own niche in this field," says Bhavya. "Having moved to Chennai 20 years ago, I call it home and my design hub. So it didn't come as a surprise that I zeroed in on Mylapore to be the backdrop of most of my artworks."

Mylapore, a muse

Bhavya is planning to release a concept called Mylapore Boxes where he has made a downsized model of a Mylapore house with goodies in it. “The fun part about this box is different people use it in different ways,” says Bhavya and lets on that the box contains a brass tumbler, six coasters, small notepads, and stationery. Later on, he plans to make lanterns out of them out of the box. "I test tried it on a couple of people just to see what they use it. While others gifted it, there were many who kept it as home decor. Others used it for storing their stationery, jewelry and such.” Many of Bhavya's artworks have a Mario Miranda-inspired look with his quintessential clutter art style. Telling us how his escapades through Mylapore on his bike is to soak up some sun and stories, the 3D visualiser and illustrator shares, “I just went yesterday to Mylapore because I felt I was running out of stories to illustrate. The temple premises were so chaotic but oddly had a calming effect as well. It's such a beautiful balance of culture and people."

Door to door

This concept started in parallel to his Mylapore-inspired artwork series. Taking inspiration from the long hallways, the rimmed windows and stained glass doors that defines this locality, Bhavya cycles around the area imagining when the house would've been built and how life inside it must be. 'I don't talk to them because I am not comfortable intruding on their space. But since I'm an architect I do my homework and consult seniors about the architecture here and then get out into the field. I borrow some architectural elements into my own illustrations sometimes. For example, I recently made a fabric pattern inspired the doors. Hopefully, it can be printed on linen and launched soon as quirky apparel. In the future, Bhavya sees himself developing more products inspired by the city. “There's so much that this city offers that I just cannot afford to miss out on it," says Bhavya with a smile, adding that he is gearing up to launch a series of coasters with doodles of yogis performing several yoga positions, using brown mount board for a rustic, earthy feel. 

Bhavya's Mylapore-inspired artwork will be available soon on his page
facebook.com/bhavya.desai1

Related Stories

No stories found.
Indulgexpress
www.indulgexpress.com