Paintings on the streets
Artists unfurl their talent at Kala Pola 2011 :
Amalshan Gunarathne
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Charitha Lay
with her paintings |
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Nalin
Jayasena with his painting |
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Shashika
with her painting |
Many creative souls lightened up the sidewalks of Ananda Kumaraswami
Mawatha with their artistic charisma as they put their unique designs on
display for public viewing at the recently held Kala
Pola. Our artistic appetite was touched to the core by the unique
paintings and sculptures that were on display at the event. More than
300 participants took part in this year’s event and a few expressed
their views on their works. First to catch our attention was the
painting of a Buddha in the background of a tree crust. At a distance it
appears to be drawn on a porcelain background. But artist O M Priyantha
said it was drawn using oil colour. “I painted the background according
to the colours of an Avocado tree crust.” Priyantha is a graduate from
Aesthetic University and carries his own interior designing agency in
Galle.
Probably the most unique and eye catching pieces that were on display
were the Chandana Gunathilaka’s sculpture collection. All his pieces
were assembled using iron fragments, iron nuts and bolts. The collection
consisted of a raging bull, a giant leopard, a pair of birds made of
steel spoons etc. Expressing his thoughts on the collection Chandana
said: “The giant leopard was made out of copper fragments. It took me
more than two months to assemble it.
The raging bull was made out of iron bolts and nuts. More than four
thousand iron nuts were used to assemble this sculpture. I guess, it
weighs more than 37 kilos.” Chandana is also a graduate from the
Aesthetic University. He was among the few to represent Sri Lanka in the
‘Beijing Binal’ competition which was held in 2010. Chandana has also
won the third place for the sculpture section at the State Art and
Sculpture Festival 2008.
Nalin Jayasena, another student from the Aesthetic University
portrayed a very unique and distinctive collection of animal paintings.
“I wanted to do something different and unique. Rather than using a
common style, I used a very distinctive, modern concept.” Nalin
explained. The paintings were very abstract in nature. Yet, the most
striking factor was the way in which he kept the originality intact.
He further went on to express his gratitude towards the event
organizers. “Kalapola is a very good event. It gives a chance to both
professionals and the budding artists to showcase their potential and
talents; it is a real pleasure to take part in such a major event.”
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| Reflections on the sunset |
The assembled raging bull (from
Chandana Gunathilaka’s assemble art collection) |
Another arresting painting that caught our attention was the Shashika
Jayanthi’s portrayal of burning apocalyptic land. It was the uncanny
gothic nature of the painting that drew us towards the portrayal. It is
sort of a sculptured painting that strayed away from the normal oil
coloured style.
Charitha Lay’s painting collection was very lively in nature.
Expressing her thoughts on one of her paintings she said, “There is
nothing complicated about this painting. This is a portrayal of my
family; we all are playing in the beach while the sun is setting.
This painting is very important to me. It has a very sentimental
value to me. I am not going to sell it at any cost.”
However these were just handful of artists that came to our
limelight. Otherwise the event was brimming with artistic glamour and
many were fascinated by the talents and flair which were put on display
at the event. Kala Pola 2011 was presented by the George Keyt Foundation
and the John Keells Group. A special art auction was also held, where
some of the finest pieces were sold to the highest bidders.
Pictures by Rukmal Gamage
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