Anugraha Mahesh’s project puzzle will leave you intrigued and engaged

An overview of what comes packed with the puzzle — an illustration print and a handwritten note

When an urge to create takes over, your immediate surroundings somersault in marvellous forms to initiate you into your endeavour. This writer is a firm believer that there are no objects of inspiration, only perception that strikes the imagination. Quite a lengthy way to describe how a houseful of plants tended to by a grandmother turned into the theme for visual storyteller Anugraha Mahesh's project puzzle, when an artistic impulse struck her. "My grandmother also has a liking for artificial flowers, and I never understood artificial plants when you have real plants. So I thought about it and built an idea from it," she says.

A year later, Mahesh released The Plant Lab, a 560-piece puzzle that portrays a factory set-up of scientists and workmen creating plants similar to known species that grow till a certain point and then turn into artificial plants. The more you buy the plants, the better your access, as a real-fake plant collector, to rarer species manufactured by the lab. The picture started with a large-scale watercolour painting. The visual language of the entire painting is filled with minute and colourful thematic details of a fantastical factory where workmen stitch leaves, mould and dye petals, and scent flowers. To detail this concept, the artist includes her very own single-edition newspaper called Renew, complete with articles, a Sudoku puzzle, horoscopes, and everything you'd expect to find in a newspaper. The puzzle also comes in a mailing tube of reused compressed cardboard and reused packing material to eliminate waste, an illustration print for reference, and a handwritten note.

The painting took Mahesh a month and a half to complete while juggling her day job as a graphic designer. End-of-work-day evenings were reserved for painting, the artist's way of finding balance between exercising skill in the day and unleashing creativity at sunset. Noticing the dedication to concept and its portrayal, someone asked the artist what she was making and why all the effort. She recalls her reasons: "I love illustrating and get excited by details. This is one of those fun mediums that gives people a chance to tangibly interact with my work and because you are interacting with tiny pieces, you're looking at all the details that go into it. And the second reason is that a puzzle is a puzzle and the idea of it is to have fun. So I intend for people to enjoy it on a Sunday afternoon with their family." We recommend checking out her stickers that incorporate a story in one frame, and her humorous and thoughtful zines.

Anugraha

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