I met Cochin Sithaara in a place called Fort Cochin in Kerala, India. He was proudly manning his stall where he sold his own original artwork and prints. The first thing to stand out about cochin was his long hair and vague similarity in appearance to Salvador Dali, and i was pleasantly surprised to see that his artwork had a surreal quality also. The quirky composition was very important in this portrait, with lots of diagonals and triangles leading your eye around the painting. You can see in the background a plastic bag containing his lunch, and a cardboard mount frame for his artwork. I like the idea that you don't quite know what is going on with his hands, and the cheeky grin adds to the mystery.

Oil on canvas (121cm x 91cm)