36 Days of Type | 2021

This is the first time I ever tried drawing for #36daysoftype, thanks to a friend’s suggestion that I do it.

I have always liked the simple kolams or rangolis made of rice flour outside people’s doors in the South of India as well as South Indians living elsewhere. Now that we are finally living in Bangalore I couldn’t help but use it as an inspiration for this series.

Kolams are practiced by Hindu families of South Indian origin and is an everyday ritual of purification of the threshold of ones house where it the personal meets the public. It is an invitation.

It is a beautiful convergence of calculations and freehand drawing.

These are mostly done by women of the household associating it with certain gender roles defined by the traditional Indian society. Thereby unfortunately not giving it the same reverence as other art forms.

Nonetheless, the women sometimes take painstaking efforts to draw these kolams out of colours, rice powder, flowers and so on.

The kolams are drawn across different cultures throughout the country. The ones in this series are inspired by the ones seen in the South of India.

If you have time do read this. Thanks Anisha Thampy for sharing this article.

The first ‘A’ was made while the series was ongoing. The second one was drawn afterwards to go with the overall aesthetics of the series.

The first ‘B’ was made while the series was ongoing. The second one was drawn afterwards to go with the overall aesthetics of the series.

Both the ‘E’s were made while the series was ongoing.

The first ‘H’ was made while the series was ongoing. The second one was drawn afterwards to go with the overall aesthetics of the series.

Thanks for your time.