Illustration transcends the merely photographic: Kripa Bhatia

Kripa Bhatia is an artist who is based in Mumbai and has worked extensively on children’s books. She illustrated Bombay Ducks, Bombay Docks with Fleur D’Souza, which is a children's book about the original inhabitants of Mumbai. This work has made it to this year’s Parag Honour List. In this interview, Kripa Bhatia talks about her illustration process and how she approaches creativity, as well as her other works.

Tell us about your illustration process. How does it work?
My process of illustration is immersive. Once I receive the script, I start looking for alternative perspectives on the script, consult other books written on the subject and painted on the theme (if any) and meet and gather stories and anecdotes from associated people. If the book is about a cultural aspect or life in a city, my process involves physical and frequent visits to the site; mapping, gathering sights and smells, understanding the local language and traditions and practices of the community. I also live sketch sometimes. It is a very people-centric process.

Do you think of illustration as only imagery or are you writing a parallel text with images? Do you also feel that the term ‘illustration’ is often an inaccurate description of your work?
In Jungle Nama, Amitav Ghosh refers to Salman Toor’s paintings as “illuminations”. Ghosh says the images are not merely illustrations but constitute a parallel narrative. I think words can conjure unfathomable depths of meaning and metaphor. Through my illustrations, I am diving into these pockets to bring out the treasures hidden within words. That makes me a deep sea diver! And I don’t mind being called an illustrator, frankly!

Mumbai, your home city features prominently in your work. Rain: A City Through a Season (with Vinitha) and The Art Gallery on Princess Street (with Jerry Pinto) capture snippets of city life. How do you choose images of the city for your work and also transcend the merely photographic in such a process?
In recent times, several publishers and writers have been excited by the possibilities offered by picture books (about our cities) to address the clichés of symbolic representation. Lost and Found: In a Mumbai Koliwada (People Place Project) is one such book that starts by addressing this very question - “Are there villages inside cities?” Thus, bringing forth unnoticed cityscapes that will encourage children to look at urban spaces with a fresh perspective.

I think an illustration transcends the merely photographic by adding new layers of meaning and observational detail. Let me explain this with an example. Be Careful Bappa (People Place Project) is a book about the cotton mill history of Mumbai as much as the story of the protagonist who is a young chawl dweller navigating the narrow lanes of the city and jostling with crowds for the visarjan of the city’s favourite deity, Ganpati Bappa. The collage style illustration accommodates many visual narratives within a single page. There is the foreground of the procession, the background of the cityscape and a textured layer of newspaper clippings, scribbled paper, bus tickets and old photographs embarking the reader on a historical ride. The book is thus a negotiation between multiple texts and images.

Would you illustrate differently for adults? Do images speak differently to age groups you think?
I think good books don’t come with an age-appropriate tag. I would not illustrate it any differently than I do for children, if I were illustrating for adults. Let us not forget that children are far more imaginative and visually literate than most adults.

You are working on two picture book biographies of leading artists, Somnath Hore and Mehlli Gobhai. Tell us about them.
There cannot be a more appropriate time to talk to children about Somnath Hore than now. We have just experienced a most unfortunate event of migration during the lockdown and the farmers’ crisis. The book is also timed to release around his 100th birth anniversary in April this year. It is a non-linear, picture book biography of an artist who was deeply moved by the pain of his people.

My other book about the artist Mehlli Gobhai is written by Jerry Pinto and will be published soon by Pratham Books. I must add that the process of creating both the books on two pioneering artists has been extremely enriching. It has involved many meaningful interactions with art historians, visits to galleries and immersing myself in their artwork because, contrary to popular belief, illustration is never a simple job.

Kunal Ray teaches literary & cultural studies at FLAME University, Pune