Meet the model who bares all for the sake of art

It’s 7.30 on a Friday evening. A young woman steps into the drawing room of her home in Bengaluru where a dozen artists, palettes in hand, wait with a canvases mounted on easels. She slips out of her black robe peppered with yellow flowers and settles into a pose, without inhibition. Over the next three hours she is the muse for the art students and artists, and every inch of her body is visually dissected and measured. Lilian D’Mello is a known name in a creative circles in India and abroad. A former copy writer, the 25-year-old Indo-Filipino model is a much sought-after live nude model for artists, painters, sculptures and animation artists across the country, as well as online. But with her growing success have come unpleasant encounters with land lords, friends and family who equate her job to sex work. Lilian’s family was outraged at her decision and disowned her. Born to Mangalorean father and a Filipino mother in Salalah, Oman. Lilian came to India in mid-2013 to pursue her pre-university education in a junior college in Udupi. She moved to Bengaluru in July 2015 to do her degree “I began modelling and acting in TV commercials in college. But I was often sidelined as I was not tall and ad makers told me that I was fat. I felt uncomfortable and stopped modelling”. No body shaming in art That’s when Lilian chanced upon an international art group on Facebook where she interacted with people in the group on figurative art, paintings and sculptures. “I started relating to paintings of women in their natural form and it got me thinkings as to why I shouldn’t become an art model, where my body will be judged,” she recalls The FB group advised her to approach art schools in Bengaluru and she reached out to an animation school in Kammanahalli. The American couple who ran it made her comfortable. “My first session was in April 2018 amidst a dozen artists and students. The moment I disrobed and posed a kind of peace washed over me,” says Lilian, who is now perfectly comfortable with her body. There are no unrealistic standards of beauty to be met here. From that evening there has been no looking back for Lilian whose weekends are packed with modelling sessions for professional and budding artists in Bengaluru. She did her copywriter job while working with artists on weekends for nearly two years, even posing for over 100 artists at an art convention in 2019. Battling society’s stigma All hell broke loose when Lilian’s extended family came across an online chat session of hers with artists. “My family is pretty conservative. Relatives confronted me and asked me if I was indeed nude model. I admitted that I was. They then gave me an ultimatum: stop modelling or leave home” says Lilian. With nowhere to go, she crashed at her ad agency for nearly a month. Not one to be bogged curveballs life has thrown at her; Lilian began to hunt for a house. She found one in West Bengaluru in early 2020. When the lockdown kicked in, Lilian decided to host online sessions for artists. “I began a session on Instagram for a closed audition. Initially it was semi-nude and then I switched to nude. My work picked up and in August 2020, I posed online for a Scottish live drawing group with 300 members,” she says. As her name gained ground in art circles, someone found a screenshot of one of her nude portraits and sent it to her landlord. “He freaked out and lectured me on how society frowns upon a nude model. He then asked me to move out, giving me a month’s time”. It was back to house hunting once again. Only this time it was in midst of raging pandemic. With no family support, the incident left Lilian rattled and anxious. She did find a house again, but when the landlord began getting inquisitive and started asking questions as to nature of her job, she started getting nervous. On work front, I was flooded with assignments. In 2021, I decided to quit my ad job and began modelling full time. Even though it had made me happy, there was always this fear of people not understanding my art and equating it to sex work. It was distressing. I had to take my Instagram profile private. I began working with only accomplished artists and studios because of the fear of being targeted and misunderstood.” Lilian explains. Frustrated at having to justify her work constantly and the looming threat of being evicted from her rented places, Lilian poured her heart out on an artist’s forum online. The support she got from Bengalureans, she says, was not just overwhelming but has also boosted her confidence. “Many offered their houses on rent. I have found one in South Bengaluru where I can stay and work without having to look over my shoulder each time I step out or if someone drops in to see me. The house owner knows the nature of my job and respects my profession,” she adds.