Manmatha Madana Nair

As a young child, he was an advanced communicator, and surprised his doctor with how he conveyed his health concerns when he was only one-year old. At a young age, he was drawn to art and video production. He began creating content at eight-years old and never stopped. Film and art were his passion, and he felt that he could use these mediums to communicate concepts to other people that might not be accurately conveyed through words. Throughout his life, he used social media as a method to share his work and express his thoughts.

After graduating from high school, he moved to Atlanta to attend Georgia State University and pursue a career in film. During this time, he used his skills in art and video to create animated digital pieces that captured and shared the world through his eyes. He intended for some of these pieces to eventually contribute to larger films. The first example of this can be seen in his most recent video, “there are (still) moths in my stomach.”

Rian was driven by a passion to understand reality, perspective, and the nature of existence. Fueled by this quest, he continually searched for new ways to explore the world around him. Sometimes this search took him on traditional paths of reading academic philosophical works including Hagel, Kant, Sartre, Jung, and Schopenhauer. At other times, he tried more extreme methods, including sleep deprivation and fasting, to take his understanding to new heights. He enjoyed challenging traditional conceptions of our world and seeking new methods of acquiring knowledge. Instead of subscribing to a pre-written philosophy, he built his own. He used social media to communicate his ideas and sought to use the platform to break stereotypes on mental health and substance use. These themes echoed through his artwork and touched the lives of those he reached who were fighting similar battles.

Rian passed peacefully in his sleep at home on November 18, 2024. He is survived, by his mother, Theresa Nair, his stepfather, Stephen Crapo, his uncles, Michael David Sharpe and Raymond Sharpe, and his cherished friends.