Malayalis can never visualise Thrissur Pooram and its iconic “Kudamaattam” ceremony any other way but on a wide canvas.
Ironic as it may sound, a self-taught artist from Thrissur has now won global acclaim for portraying the festival on the smallest possible canvas. A 3-cm-long and 2-cm-wide canvas was all that Swismin Gems, a 27-year-old dental surgeon, needed to bring to life the “Kudamaattam”, using water colour. It helped her to walk into the International Book of Records for the World’s Smallest Painting. “I happened to read about the smallest painting, which held the record and thought that I could do better. While capturing everything in the small canvas was tough in itself, painting 14 elephants into that space was the biggest of challenges,” said Swismin, who practices as a dental surgeon in Ernakulam. Notwithstanding that, she claims to have completed the work in an hour. She managed to contact the International Book of Records authorities and sent in the entry complete with the videos of her painting.
Swismin started painting at the age of 13, influenced by her father who is also a self-taught painter.
Portraying landscape in water colour remains her favourite.
Preoccupied as she is with her dental practice, Swismin finds time for her passion during nights and Sundays.
