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The art of Chandana Ranaweera:
Strike – lines
Gwen Herat
Anyone who looks at paintings up-close, the way artists handle their
subjects, the colours they use, the light they trap in their paintings,
will no wonder dazzle them. But one cannot say the same about Chandana
Ranaweera’s art because it is confined to a ballpoint upon paper. How he
does it, why he does it are his own conviction. Yet, he finds a passion
in doing it in his own way and we must respect, admire and accept his
effort. That is his style. He fights a lone battle in the world of art;
against gorgeous paintings in vibrant and subtle colours on any chosen
subject.
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Chandana’s
paintings |
And Chandana survives.
The name Chandana strikes a dream-world in my mind. I am referring to
Chandana Suriya-Bandara, one of our iconic programme anchors on a TV
channel.
Back to Chandana Ranaweera, I had to persuade him atleast to use a
single colour background instead of white for his strike-lines and what
he came up with was much better. There was a depth of sense and clarity.
Chandana is restricted to melodrama. Even if he opts to use different
– coloured ballpoints, the result will be the same. But I like the
spirit of Chandana because he fights a lone battle in his field.
Confining himself to mythical figures most of the time, he has the
capacity, he pushes his pen into a single strike-line, uninterupted
until he finishes a figure. It is a difficult task and needs a steady
and masterly fist. Therein lies his talent, his style.
A self-taught artist, hailing from a humble village in Narammala and
is an art teacher. I am wondering what he teaches his students but he is
quite popular in what he does, identifying each student’s individual
needs of expressions.
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