Through the Looking Glass With Elwin Charly

• 24 Feb 2017
• Sunaya
• Features

Play with colors, play with perspectives, play with the common images as one knows it and presents it in unforeseen manner – Elwin Charly is an artist who best represents the soul of this artistic city.

Words by Fathima Abdul Kader   Cover Image By:  Midhun Vijayan    Other Images from Elwin Charly

Hues such as grey, black and blue are not those that make one sit up and take notice. But for a man whose favourite childhood memories are of Christmas , they are colors that remind him of everything that shaped him. Elwin Charly is not a man of many words, but his creativity speaks volumes. Scrolling through his Instagram feed which define  him in two short phrases – 90’s kid, Christmas love – will make one understand why he lets his work speak for itself, for it is far more eloquent than any words could be. As an artist who prefers the quiet of his house to any loud party, deciding to post his personal works on Instagram was just a small whim that has taken him much further than he could have ever imagined.

Making a mark

Look through Elwin’s works and the first thing that pops into one’s mind is “how does he think these things up?” and that was precisely our first question for him. He started with a chuckle – “I do not have a process that I follow intently, but by looking at an image I consider all the ways in which it could be manipulated and then work on it till I am happy with the result I get. I honestly look at the beauty of the work rather than the techniques, but somehow all the influences I’ve heard, seen and studied, manages to sneak into the work to make it what it is. There was a time when I thought of the final product and worked to achieve that and at that point in my life, it was necessary for me to think that way. But right now, I have more creative freedom and prefer to work in this way of making things up as I go along.”

Elwin and his love for Christmas are far from a veiled secret for those who follow his Instagram page. Hailing from a traditional Christian family, it was a time for celebration and his family is all about the good times. Christmas cards, lights, trees and cold December rains were things that set the tones of his favorite childhood memories and now they often set the tone of his creative works. He had even attempted to make a Santa Claus sleigh when he was younger. While he may not use obvious motifs, the hint of winter manages to seep into his personal projects and even influences his musical choices which include Bjork, Sigur Ros, Birdy, London Grammar and the list goes on.

The way home

Elwin Charly is a true blue Kochiite, one whose speech is peppered with “scene” and “vibe” and one who got his fine arts degree from RLV College of Music and Fine Arts, right here in Kochi. While he may travel to cities like Bangalore to complete projects like CafeMoto, he prefers staying in his comfort zone in his home town. He pours his heart and soul into projects around the city, such as the recently completed work at Mill Hall in Fort Kochi.

His family is all settled here and his father Charly, or Lala to him, is an artistic soul who collects music records, does typography and even writes scripts, while his actual profession is motor winding. According to Elwin, his father is always young at heart and named his son after Electric Winding (EL+WIN) and buys him the funkiest clothes in his wardrobe and made sure his children pursued their talents. At a younger age, Elwin didn’t even know if art was something he wanted to pursue, but his father ensured that he joined an art school and it was his biggest dream to make Elwin a cartoonist in Malayala Manorama.  Elwin's  mother, Pushpa Charly hails from Kottayam and is her sons' biggest fan. Elwin’s brother Viswom John Charly (vivi_charly), is of the same penchant as his elder brother, but focuses more on the photography aspect of things.

Trodden paths

After graduating from Art school, Elwin did what almost everyone does – work in a MNC and wonder if that is what he was supposed to do. But somewhere along the line he became aware of so much more that he could possibly do, after seeing the works of those from Papaya Media. When he was brought on by Ajay Menon to do the album art for the band Avial, he knew he had found his calling and his tribe, of sorts.

Looking Ahead

After working in a space where he was free to think more creatively and was in fact prompted to do so, he ventured out by himself. He founded E Visual Designers, where they undertake any project that is design related -from branding to wall art to interiors. His team includes Sreenath, Sandeep, Sharath, Vimal and Joseph Savio.Elwin’s latest projects include the likes of the Soubin Shahir movie Parava, first look posters of ‘Honey Bee 2’, and the recently completed work at Mill Hall, Fort Kochi, that was done for the mill’s owner. When asked about his dream project, Elwin shrugged it off and said – “I really don’t think ahead to the future and I don’t think I am at a point to have a dream project. It’s not time yet. I just want to do work that keeps me going forward and happy.”