Religion inspires self-taught artist

Suharshi PERERA

ART: When I walked into the gallery of the Indian Cultural Centre Nalini Jayasuriya came to me with a genial smile which buried the fatigue that came upon her face due to tiresome morning hours that did not complement her age, spent on hanging the paintings and arranging the hall for her exhibition on the following day.

The elderly artist stood as an embodiment of humility and restraint and the sky blue saree enhanced her elegance.

Nalini Jayasuriya, a historian and painter, has spent most of her scholastic life in foreign soil thus gave vent to her thoughts and memories.

"I spent the finest eight years of my long life at the S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia as a music teacher under one of the greatest wardens Canon R.S. De. Saram to whom I owe a lot", she said.

Jayasuriya was born into a family of gifted artistes. Her mother Aida Abeywardana Kodippili was a painter and her brother Mervin Jayasuriya was a well-known artiste at the Radio Ceylon.

"I have never been taught painting, it was in my blood and veins but I used to read and write a lot", she said.

She has attended several schools including Holy Family Convent and St. Clare's College as her father was a Superintendent of Services constantly moving from one place to another.

"I remember going to school with my brother in an old rickshaw", she reminisced.

The British Council offered her a scholarship to study in England, after seeing her writing. "That changed my whole life", she recalled the beginning of her journey. Then she wrote many books and published them in several countries.

Among them were a children's book "Letters from Ingy" (a cat) and "Cargo", a book of poems that won her a Research Fellowship to the University of Yale in the United States.

There she graduated in History and became a lecturer at the same university which was a confluence of many cultures. The Yale University published her book "A Time for my singing", that contains lots of her paintings and text written by her.

Then she served in seven universities including the University of Copenhagen, University of Tokyo, University of Lahore and St. Scolastica University in the Philippines delivering lectures on the History of Art, music and movement.

"But I never got the opportunity to serve any local university although I offered my service free of charge.

The educational authorities turned me down saying it was 'too high brow' for Sri Lankan students. This is the only regret I have", Jayasuriya said.

She said most important source of her creative inspiration was religion. "I'm interested in religion. Not in religious material but in religions and their influence on people, leading to visual expressions".

Although she comes from a strong Christian background, she respects Buddhism and Islam.

"Religion inspires people so deeply that they express themselves mainly through the art. I don't agree with anybody opposing anybody else. I think it is immoral to say somebody's faith is less important than yours. That is the truth that we have to respect".

She says the artistic expression is all about freedom. "I was never taught painting. When you are taught you are bound, there is no freedom. Nothing worthwhile arises in the absence of freedom.

That's why painters protest in Europe against this rigorous way of conditioning everybody's mind, thinking and expression. You have to allow it. That is the whole purpose of expressing yourself as a dancer, painter or musician".

She creates symbolic images of the four main religions in the world in her paintings. The dance of Shiva expresses dynamism and the vibrant nature of Hinduism. The image of Christ saying 'come unto me' includes humanity.

In Islam any reverential image is prohibited and they only write the word 'Allah' in calligraphy. The Buddha image never addresses audience, looking down, looking into yourself and is an introspective image. Most statues depict the meditating pose".

Jayasuriya says she does not think before she paints. "I get impressions from what I read". Being single and living alone her thoughts are contained," she says. "I live alone in a very old house with a beautiful wild garden full of flowers.

The first thing I do in the morning is to feed squirrels and birds with bread. And I love walking along the seashore watching the sunset".

"I don't know how long I'm going to do that", she said after a brief pause.

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