Why Kerala architect Indulekha Menon's sketches went viral during #Inktober

At 23, Indulekha Menon is on her way to conquer everything that she loves: music, art and architecture. Fresh out of studying architecture in TKM College, Kollam, she now chooses to focus on building a catalogue of art that she can call her own. "My artwork is usually based on some of my favourite memories, conversations that I’ve had and places I’ve been to," says Indulekha. She admits that she has been drawing for as long as she can remember but ironically, it stopped when she started her degree, when she lost some of the interest she had for indulging in art.

During her 4th year, she started gifting portraits to her closest friends on their birthdays and in the process, learnt that the passion she had brushed aside was also an equally good stressbuster. Following this, in the midst of doing her thesis, she began using drawing to cope with the stress that came with the work. She started to draw random thoughts that popped into her head.

She says, "I haven’t figured out a personal style yet. I'm my natural habitat, I like doodling, drawing people and simple things. I guess I’m a little obsessed with the night sky and trees. I love representing thoughts in my drawings. My best friend and I often talk about thoughts and ideas that we’ve had about auras, magic, love, the universe and alternate realities. And then I develop an image out of those thoughts."

There is an existential thought process that underlies Indulekha's work. Her paintings ask the questions: Why are we alive? Why do the things that happen around us happen? and about how people seem insignificant when it comes to the universe. Her art is drawn from a range of personal experiences. She says, "I guess drawing about things calms me down a bit. I’m often told that I think too much, drawing helps me keep the negative bits of it at bay, at least most of the time." This year, her work for Inktober made the rounds on social media, with a range of art that brought the universe on to her notebook.