Doctor creates a visual memoir of pandemic
dubai — A Dubai-based doctor has swapped surgical instruments like scalpels and scissors with paint brushes and pallets as painting for him has proved to be cathartic.
Dr Shaji Pallissery Kuzhiyil, 40-year-old physician, is immersed in chronicling a personal visual memoir of the global health emergency. A practising orthopaedic surgeon at NMC Specialty Hospital in Al Nahda and a medical centre in Karama, Shaji is utilising all his time these days, in bringing out the inner artist in him.
“Covid-19 propelled me to think in a creative way. It instilled a renewed sense of passion to revive what I left years ago.”
His latest labour of love was kept under wraps for 17 long years as personal and professional commitments drowned him in other pressing issues that warranted urgent attention.
“I was so absorbed by the negative news surrounding Covid-19 that I needed to release that energy and relax in some way. Therefore, many of my initial paintings reveal that pessimism. So, my earlier drawings portray a dry leaf, a crouched up man, hunger or sunset at the boat yard.”
But as Shaji kept sharing pictures of his paintings on his MBBS WhatsApp group and Facebook pages, many suggested the grim reality outside was already quite harsh.
“I think this suggestion changed my outlook. All my paintings reflected a dark and depressed mind — the adverse psychological impact of the world around. Your feelings about events keep changing. But those comments compelled me to reflect differently and more positively. I then started painting about grandparents spending quality time with their grandkids and inspiring the next generation, a healthcare worker trying to break the virus chain or a man reciting verses from the Holy Quran.
“This has been my most valuable find while being confined at home,” said the doctor who had won many state and district level prizes for his fine strokes during his boyhood days in Kerala.
Meticulously following tutorial videos on YouTube to become abreast with new artistic techniques, he spared no effort to catch up on the bygone years.
Despite being a medical practitioner, the artist in him avers that children should be encouraged to keep the creative pen moving.
“I started painting very early in my life. In 1993, I also won a gold medal at junior level for the Kerala Painting Competition. But I didn’t pursue art as a profession. However, I encourage both my children, especially the elder one who is in Grade 6 now, to dabble with colours. They will eventually assign meaning to their art,” he added.