Paintings of tranquillity

Andrea Britto Babapulle

Review: Sugandhi Edirisinghe, exhibited her paintings to commemorate the International Women's Day, from March 9 to 23 at Alliance Francaise Gallery, Colombo 7. The theme of her work was based on women, and the medium of the paintings were, acrylics and oil on canvas.

Sugandhi had invited young artist Nimalee Rajapakse to exhibit along with her work. She is an upcoming artist whose work has been selected for many of the local and international exhibitions. The title of the exhibition was "Women Recognising Women".

It is always nice to be invited to give one's "thoughts" on an exhibition. This I did on March 9 on my visit to the Alliance Francaise, to see what Sugandhi Edirisinghe had created in her almost solo performance. Exhibiting with her is Nimalee Rajapakse a young artist, whose work is being introduced by Sugandhi.

solitude

Sugandhi's work portrays femininity at its best. The secret moments, the solitude, the togetherness, form and figure, freshness, innocence and beauty of women, the eternal 'She'. We have women and music, women in industry, women at leisure, women with nature, women in dance and motion, women at prayer. The female is shown in reflective poses.

The colours are bright. I could not see one subdued picture in the entire exhibition of 23 paintings.

Sugandhi introduces a new technique of collaging borders on the sareed paintings that are successfully merged with the rest of the paintings on canvas, so one cannot really identify where the cloth ends and the depiction begins.

Modern art has its place too, abstract if you'd like to call it that, with several displayed, however, still easily understood and identifiable. My personal preferences lay in the soft and subtle blending of tones which showed the silkiness and sheerness of materials and cloth on very graceful figures.

vibrant

Nimalee Rajapakse's paintings are more down to earth. Though both artists are traditional and both are vibrant, Sugandhi blends more subtlety while Nimalee's would probably grace an establishment like the Sri Lanka Tourist Board, as a promotion of our country.

It all depends on your taste, but there are several for many and tranquillity, peace and calm are shown throughout. This exhibition was a refreshing change to the mind, the heart and the eye.

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