There’s an interesting art showcase by Malavika called Echoes of Colour at Lila Art Cafe, Kochi. If you haven’t checked it out yet, now would be a good time. The series comes from a deeply personal place by the artist, shaped by a period of isolation and introspection that eventually turned into a visual exploration of the mind.
About The Artist
Malavika is a Calicut-based architect and multidisciplinary artist, trained at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, London, with a Master’s in Design and Make. Her practice blends spatial thinking with introspective visual storytelling, drawing from her dual role as an architect and art director for leading musical acts in India. She explores the intersection of structure, story, and emotion, positioning herself as both explorer and myth-maker. Her work has been showcased at Art of India 2025, presented by The Times of India and Kotak Private, alongside leading modern and contemporary Indian artists.
Echoes of Colour
Echoes of Colour is a 31-piece series that follows a solitary traveller through a desolate landscape that slowly reveals itself as the mind.
For sixteen months, Malavika lived in a 300-acre forest with just ten people. Life there was stripped down to its essentials with no constant noise or distraction. It was during this time that she came face-to-face with herself in a way she hadn’t before. Her series Echoes of Colour emerges from this period of isolation, not as an attempt to search for meaning, but as a way to give form to something she had already experienced.
At the heart of the series is the idea of unlearning. Malavika speaks about letting go of conditioned beliefs and beginning to observe her thoughts without immediately judging them. Through this experience, she saw what once felt like flaws started to shift into fragments of a whole that she had not taken the time to see fully. Instead of trying to fix herself, she chose to understand herself.
“There were nights I walked into the forest alone, pushing against a fear I had carried for years. What I expected to find was darkness in its most literal sense. What I found instead was clarity. The more I confronted it, the less power it held. And somewhere within that process, without force or performance, I began to fall in love with myself.”
This shift forms the emotional core of Echoes of Colour. In the series, colour is not discovered in the outside world, but reclaimed from within herself. It represents the parts of the self that feel distant at times, joy, memory, softness, and growth. The landscapes in her work are intentionally unresolved and at times unforgiving. This reflects the reality of inner journeys, where clarity about herself is constantly evolving.
She says, “One of my favourite pieces is the 22nd one. And it’s them realising that the colour that’s been leaking, giving life around the world, has been coming from within them. In this particular piece, they’re crying, and the tears are of colour because it is tears of joy. It’s them rediscovering the fact that they have good in them. They had good memories. That piece is called Delicate Unveiling. I wanted this to be a very androgynous thing and not be very specific about the gender because anybody can go through this.”
Creating Echoes of Colour was a process of unlearning and rediscovering herself for Malavika. By stepping beyond her comfort zone, she experienced deep personal growth, which is reflected in each of the 31 works. The series ultimately echoes her belief: “You have to accept all parts of yourself to truly love yourself.”
You can experience Malavika’s Echoes of Colour at Lila Art Cafe, Kochi, until the end of April. Don’t miss it.
