Namaah Kumar is shaping the landscape of contemporary art as a multi-disciplinary creative director by injecting their pieces with a decade's worth of design and communications expertise. They are big on social storytelling, rocking content-driven brand marketing, and creating immersive on-ground experiences that flip the script on art and design.
Namaah has cultivated a deep understanding of how AI-driven art fits into the digital world. They champion the fusion of AI and creativity, using both to create interesting stories and transform out-of-date creative methods. As they navigate the evolving intersection of technology and artistic expression, they are constantly pushing boundaries and eliciting thought-provoking dialogues on the role of AI in art.
"Having a distinctive palette to work with comes in handy in providing a degree of recognisability to my otherwise – let’s call it 'multidisciplinary' – body of work."Namaah Kumar
For Namaah, colour holds a deeply personal significance, resonating as a core aspect of their journey as a visual artist. They use colours that pop to tell emotional stories and are deeply aware of how colours really connect with people. Recognising the universal allure of colour, they leverage its emotive power to connect with their audience on an instinctual level. In doing so, they have created a signature colour palette that lends an unmistakable identity to their diverse and multidisciplinary body of work.
"As a synesthetic person, my relationship with colour has been pivotal to my evolution as a visual artist. I find that people react most instinctively to colour over other elements of visual art/design which are far more subjective, sometimes to an extent that they themselves might not realise."Namaah Kumar
What's intriguing about Namaah is that they place equal emphasis on humour as a conduit for emotional connection in their art. They truly grasp the powerful role humor plays in stirring up a whole range of feelings, providing solace and a fresh perspective when life gets complex. Their knack for infusing wit and lightness into their pieces delicately walks the line between comfort and unease.
"Art of any kind must invoke distinct emotion in its viewer, and my favourite way to connect emotionally with someone has always been through laughter. Humour can provide comfort whilst also helping us to cope with the less comfortable aspects of life, and that opportunity excites me."Namaah Kumar
As striking as their art is, with its pops of colour and magnetic visuals, Namaah doesn't view their work in a purely visual capacity. Instead, they feel a stronger inclination toward exploring and intertwining visuals and language to create a cohesive piece. Therefore, it is the amalgamation of these two elements, where imagery and text coalesce, that culminates in the final desired work.
"The third thing that I think all my work has in common is that it is seldom purely visual; I love to explore the interplay of visuals and words to create any piece of work. I am, what you might call, my own copy partner."Namaah Kumar
With Namaah’s 'A Film I Haven't Made Yet' series, our imagination takes on a more active role. It is a mesmerising marriage of cinematic visuals with powerful dialogues that hint at a storyline while intentionally leaving room for interpretation. It's like a sneak peek into a bigger movie they haven't quite filmed. Each piece within this collection resembles a scene from a classic monochrome film, capturing the essence of a narrative arc, yet deliberately allowing ambiguity to seep in.
"Each piece in this series is a scene that (hopefully) while static and standalone, interacts with the viewer's imagination to tell the story of what happened before, and what comes after it. Each scene is a self-contained story exploring the themes of love, loss, and levity; themes that are central to media that I enjoy consuming."Namaah Kumar
This deliberate vagueness empowers viewers to become active storytellers, inviting them to infuse their imagination into the narrative, bridging the gaps, and shaping the storyline based on their individual perspectives. By leaving some elements open-ended, they embrace the individuality and brevity of each scene, deliberately leaving room for the audience's imagination to stitch together the before and after, forming a cohesive storyline with every 'each-to-their-own' edition.
Namaah acknowledges this series as a subtle commentary on the challenges they face as an artist. The desire to make engaging narratives, but wrestling with the pursuit of putting together every tiny detail of a traditional film is not as easy task. Instead, it finds its expression through these evocative vignettes.
"I lack the discipline to tell the less interesting parts of a story, if there is such a thing; I'm too impatient for filler scenes, establishing shots, or the dialogues of exposition that tie the key scenes of a film together."Namaah Kumar
Drawing inspiration from Jim Jarmusch's film ‘Coffee And Cigarettes’, famous for its compelling vignettes and clever dialogues, Namaah seeks to encapsulate a similar essence within their work, harnessing the power of succinct yet impactful storytelling. Moreover, Namaah's upcoming coffee-table book, stemming from their film series, will bring forth their striking narratives into a tangible form.
"What I wanted to achieve with this series is my version of that kind of film. And since I lack the monetary means to make the film itself, I've done the next best thing - make posts on social media about the film."Namaah Kumar
At this moment, Namaah claims to be in their astro-girl era. Their foray into the astrology series stems from a transformative shift in perspective — a departure from scepticism to a nuanced understanding and appreciation of its social significance.
"Astrology is simply met with much more aggressive opposition since it has found an audience primarily in young women and queer people, a demographic we as a society love to patronisingly undermine for its contribution to culture."Namaah Kumar
Embracing astrology as a tool for structured introspection rather than an absolute doctrine, they navigate this terrain to celebrate the positive traits associated with each zodiac sign. Each piece visually articulates the essence of the astrological sign. They revel in these qualities of astrology, offering a space for joy and communal celebration while acknowledging the societal biases that often dismiss such pursuits.
"The response the series has received has affirmed that one doesn't have to accept astrology as gospel - one simply has to make a little room for seemingly 'less cerebral' pursuits and finding joy in them through community."Namaah Kumar
Namaah Kumar's repertoire is like an artistic mixtape in the way that it explores different themes and portrays a variety of visual aesthetics as well as with how it illustrates their adeptness with the art of storytelling or their fearless exploration of uncharted creative territories. In essence, Namaah Kumar's art forgoes the traditional confines of visual representation, epitomising a convergence of technology, emotion, humour, and narrative depth.
Follow Namaah here.
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