Ahalya Rajendran

Ahalya was born in Thenmala, Kollam, Kerala. She completed her BFA in painting from the Govt. College of Fine Arts Thrissur, Kerala and MVA in painting at Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda. She is the recipient of the Nasreen Mohamedi Scholarship Award.

Ahalya’s paintings began from drawings of daily observations of agrarian life and her surroundings. Although her characters are always in the midst of doing, they carry a quiet, contemplative gaze. Birds and animals always accompany the characters in their meditation.

While the inspiration for each work comes from a distinct reminiscence, they are all held together by common experience of existence. They are part of a larger, interconnected narrative. According to Ahalya, it is looking for happiness in the small things that make this world liveable. Despite the sorrows, anxieties, and struggles brought by the pandemic, Ahalya chooses to depict a rekindling of the relationship that one had lost with nature and family.