Of nature and nurture

Animation and film design student Yamini Sujan’s digital illustrations retain the aesthetics of old school art while invoking nostalgia and dwelling on social issues
Of nature and nurture
Of nature and nurture

What makes art truly special is its ability to stir the empath in you. You feel pain, love, longing, beauty, even the warmth of a morning sun, all from a frame. Scrolling through 21-year-old artist Yamini Sujan’s art, memories inked in nostalgia rush back to you. A final-year animation and film design student at National Institute of Design (NID), Yamini hails from Mahe, the sand and sea-filled town in Puducherry close to Kerala. “My parents thought Kerala would give me more exposure. So we shifted and they put me in a school at Thalassery,” she says.  

The young artist started painting with watercolour and oil. It was just three years ago that she moved to digital medium. But even then, her creations retain the aesthetics of old school art. “I think my practice with watercolour and oil is where I borrow my tone and colours from. Even when I am drawing digitally, it is an influence that I have gladly incorporated,” she says. 

Yamini was just five years old when she started attending drawing lessons. “Until I was in Class XII, I used to focus on the aesthetics of art. More on how to make it look better to a viewer. It is after joining NID that I started exploring the applications of it, and trying to tell stories,” she says. 

Based on the subjects she handles, Yamini divides her art into three groups - aesthetic, nostalgic and those voicing out social concerns. The nostalgic ones are probably most up close and personal - like riding on a scooter with her father, lazing around with a book in her hostel room, the waves she felt under her feet as a child, mornings at Mahe Church, a mother feeding pups in the evening light - the intricate moments from a simple world she meticulously transfers into a frame. 

“Human relationships have always intrigued me. When I put out art that capture moments, many people message me saying they sent it to their parents or friends. The fact that people find it relatable, and they share that memory with me makes me happy. It is a comfortable, homely way of telling a story,” says Yamini. 

But being an artist has also made her open up to new ideas. “For example, I had done an animation on the education system, how they put kids into boxes. Many people responded to that saying that they wish they could choose what they do with their lives. I want to create a platform for discussions like that with my art,” she says.

Supporting her tryst with art are Yamini’s parents. Her mom is a teacher and father, a treasury employee. “They both draw, and were very supportive when I wanted to pursue my interest,” she says. When asked about the conflict she might face while making her own art and doing it for money, Yamini, who is also a dancer, says, “I always used to be confused about that; about working and keeping my passion alive. But I think the key is balance. My father says whatever you do, you should do it to be happy. So, I am just going to take time to keep myself happy,” she concludes. 
Find Yamini’s art on Instagram @ya_mination

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