How this Kerala artist is turning forgotten walls into living murals

On a once off-white wall, tarnished by patches of black fungus, portraits of children gaze gently at passing travellers. Their eyes — various shades of brown — hold kind smiles. Tangled creepers with long leaves and scattered blooms mimic the children’s free-flowing hair. Here, art blurs into Nature, as the surrounding flora seeps into the artist’s vision.

Spread across Thrissur and Palakkad, these murals by Thrissur-based artist Nishad VA have transformed once-ignored walls into vibrant canvases, drawing attention on social media over the past few months.