Under the sweltering heat of the August sun, amid the salty sea breeze, listening to the waves crashing, a lone woman stands holding her weapon of choice — a painting brush. Paola Delfin is in the zone, in her own world, etching an image of Kerala that she has come to understand in her brief time in the state. A corner of Cherai beach is her canvas, a makeshift wall, where she will give life to the local fisherfolks, women coir workers and the resounding history of people’s struggle along the coasts of Kerala.
“This is the spot where one of the most revolutionary events of Kerala took place. Right here in Cherai. Sahodaran Ayyappan organised the monumental Misra Bhojan, a grand feast along with people from marginalised castes. There is history here,” smiles the Mexican artist. Paola, 34, has been in Kochi for weeks, and in between visited Alappuzha and other districts.
“I have almost finished the work here. As the weather is too hot and sweltering, it progressed a bit slowly. Now, I’m working from early evening to eight at night, even after the sun goes down. It will be done in a few days,” she says. A painter and muralist, Paola has been in India for around six months, travelling and people-watching. “A lot of people-watching,” she laughs.
“That’s how I get inspired. That’s where I get my stories. I get an understanding of the culture, their lives, and the idea of this country. Every other place is different. From language to food to geography. That is the beauty of this country,” she says. Paula has been to Delhi, where she created an arresting depiction of the people that make up the historically walled city, the old Delhi. Then in Mumbai, she was captivated by the harbour, fish markets, and the chatter of women.
“It’s a different world. They are at work from dawn. The men fish, but it’s the women who are early at the market selling the prized possessions,” she explains. Women, especially, have an immense space in Paula’s murals. “What can I say, I’m a woman, and it naturally happens,” she says.
In between her extensive travel, from Rajasthan to Himachal Pradesh, through Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and now Kerala, she also finalised another massive work at Nochikuppam on Marina Beach in Chennai. “All my paintings are a result of my interactions with the local community. And that’s why my murals are about them. Freezing a moment of the time, the people that inhabited that area, who are the soul of that soil,” she says.
Paola is famous for her monochrome works, something of a rarity in the mural and graffiti world, known for loud, bright, colourful strokes. “It started many years ago.” “Mexico is known for its incredible murals and graffiti. We can study them and understand the time they were painted in, the struggles of people then. And I grew up watching those incredible works. No wonder I wanted to share that with the world.”
Though inspired and fired up, Paola never went to study art professionally. Instead, she picked up her brush and started creating a world on a wall. “In my childhood years, I did attend some drawing classes. Rest, I learnt as I went along. And then it struck me, why not paint in black and white? Why do murals always have to be dipped in colour,” Paola says.
It was a risk, but one worth taking, she realised as time went by. Her monochrome works adorn the skyscrapers of many incredible cities like Paris, Kyiv in Ukraine, Los Angeles in the US, Hong Kong, and many places in her home country — the list is endless. These towering grey panoramas against the vast blue sky are filled with layers, assimilating with the cityscape and culture, witnessing the lives below.
“I like to believe that when people see my artworks, they can visualise themselves within the great faces. Their own lives and contributions etched for the world to see,” she smiles. Like, a proclamation of “we are here, we were here”.
At the end of the day, that is what a mural is about, she adds, it’s a community art. “They are ideas. They depict the social, political, and cultural ethos and struggles of a place at a particular time. They can inspire and revolutionise people and society. You know, revolution from within, rather than the bloody one,” says Paola.
“I hope the people in Cherai can see them in the work,” she says. Soon, she will be off to Puducherry, where she has one half-finished work to get back to. “Then, I am off to Mexico, home. It’s been too long,” she laughs.