RHEA IYER
Rhea Iyer is a freelance illustrator based in Mumbai, India, who specializes in illustrations that feature various lifestyles and activities.
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CREATIVE STATEMENT
As an illustrator, I love settling into the role of an observer of life, passing by. Each piece of work is a ramble into some strange consequence of the human condition, exposing the sometimes surreal inner self to the mundanity of everyday. How can a captured image, memory or observation create new confrontations with the self? The gaze through which art interprets (and recontextualizes) reality is present and self-evident. Bodies occupying domestic spaces feature greatly in my image-making, exploring thoughts of identity, womanhood, and alone/togetherness through poetry, gentle subversion and elements of existential humour.
RECENT CLIENTS
- The Tricycle Review
- Spoken Fest 2024
- Kaya Press
Q&A
Do you draw from a model or imagination?
It’s a mix of imagination and references scrounged from photographs or written documentations of the everyday. I like to piece things together as they go along.
What is your favourite activity to illustrate?
Lounging. Looking. Searching. Holding. A lot of my characters also seem to particularly enjoy playing with cats.
Where do you find inspiration for new people and poses?
The art and writings of Leonora Carrington. Any stupid pun with the potential for visual interpretation. Sometimes my dreams are super weird. Other times, it’s just sitting somewhere with nothing to do, scrolling through old pictures, or looking at art by other artists, wishing I had thought to make it first, and then wondering where else an image can go.