June 2019
Gopalan Kutty
When he retired as an Engineering Manager, Gopal was faced with a dilemma: would he pursue his profession, or his passion? He decided to follow his interest in art, creating a variety of things using all kinds of materials—coconut shells, glass shards, even discarded items.
Gopal told us about his early life, designing his own clothing and his creative process today.
“As I entered my teens, my interest in clothes and appearance increased and this led me into using curtain materials, crepe cloth and even lungi to design and wear my own brand of clothes.”
“My tools are my imagination, observation and adaptation. I have no special tool, but I have a cache of materials I've collected.
Each project starts with a vision of the finished item. If I can find a way to do it, I use the raw materials at hand.”
“My motto is to 'take failure as your guru.'
The opinion of others matters—I present my work to them and try to learn as much as possible. For every success, there would be a few failures.”
Gopal was born into an emerging independent India and that enthusiasm and hope is still part of his character. His journey has been fascinating.
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