Unearthing Sri Lanka
Ruwini Jayawardana
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Pathmal’s creation |
You take one look and you are intrigued enough to take another peek.
The extraordinary work of art draws you closer so that you spend a few
moment before each creation, studying it and deciding on how the artist
had moulded the creation armed with only a handful of instruments.
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Sahan’s mixed media on a grinder |
This is the impact which strikes you at ‘Finding Sri Lanka’, a degree
show presented by the students of the Visual Arts and Design Unit of
Kelaniya University. Around 20 students showcased their work at the
event which was held at the Park Street Hotel, Colombo 2, on November 3.
It is the third off-campus exhibition of the final-year students of the
Visual Arts, Design and Performing Arts Unit of the university.
A diverse range of paintings, sculptures and video arts were
showcased at ‘Finding Sri Lanka’. These creations reflected the
students’ visual approach and creative imagination. They have brought
the local touch through their artistic appeal and had blended them with
their personal experiences making way for new interpretations.
Therefore what one sees in one creation can be seen in an entirely
different manner by another. Many of the students have not titled their
creations mainly because they wanted the onlookers to figure out the
works and come up with a whole set of ideas. ‘Degree Show 2010’ exposed
the innovative talents of the students and brought the University’s
Visual Arts, Design and Performing Arts Unit under the spotlight.
“Apart from the unique opportunity of exhibition their work at a
well-known public cultural space, the exhibition is also a fulfillment
of one of the examination requirements for the students. They have
expressed their opinions on a number of streams ranging from social,
economical, political and personal issues to many forms of video art,
installations and paintings.
These final visual outputs have been evolved out of their research. I
believe that these works depict the extraordinary ability and vital
capacity of Visual Arts to communicate across chrono-cultural
boundaries,” Kelaniya University Vice Chancellor Prof Sarath Amunugama
noted.
Indeed there is lots to absorb and explore at the ‘Degree show 2010’.
Many new concepts have taken form leaving the viewers awestruck. One of
the students, Pathmal Chathuranga displayed a scrap iron figure made out
of wood bed parts, chair parts, nuts and bolts. The robot like figures
reminds you on those you see in animation movies. He had constructed
them in two poses.
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Chamali’s mixed media on canvas |
Kosala Kumara’s design is titled ‘Me, Mother and My love. It is a
creation which emerges out of mixed media on plywood. Susantha
Ranasinghe had presented two showpieces, an iol on canvas and a figure
made out of bicycle parts.
Kasun Hansila had designed a mixed media digital art with idioms
scripted into the workpiece. Niwarthana Boyagoda had presented a
stunning video art in several sections titled ‘We’. Some of the other
creations were mostly made out of mixed media and oil on canvas.
The students have focused their attention on bringing out aspects of
modern art.
Though the modernization concept emerged around 50 years ago Sri
Lanka failed to emerge as a modernized nation due to a number of complex
reasons. The students have attempted to mark a new beginning with
‘Degree Show 2010’.
Their struggle turns into a challenging venture as they take on the
prevailing concept of modernism and redefine the same. |
