Nisansala’s serenity

Ishara JAYAWARDANE

Nisansala Karunaratne is a philosopher artist. She is a young lady who sees life in all its multifaceted beauty. Her attitude towards life is simple yet profound. She is the lady of Casa Serena, a remarkable place as remarkable as the the woman who has filled it with her energy.

It is a place which is almost quaint and Nisansala’s innovation has added a modern touch to the gallery which seems to be romantically old fashioned. A charismatic young woman, Nisansala spoke to the Daily News about her past, present and future

Nisansala. Pictures by Sarath Peiries

.“I was in the United States for seven to eight years where I did my higher studies. I did Fine Arts Photography and Graphic Designing. Our thesis was to do a solo exhibition. I prefer Documentary Photography and Fine Arts Documentary Photography. So I found this forest monastery in San Fransisco. It is about 280 acres and about 300 miles awayfrom San Fransisco. I drove there and found it to be a beautiful place. There are little huts there.

The monks live in these Kuti in the forest. And for lay people there are separate houses for males and females. The house that I got to stay in was also inside the forest. When Iwent there they directed me to my room. It was surrounded by greenery. It was simply breathtaking. Up to today, I really don’t know how to explain that experience.

Fine Arts

It was very inspirational. It inspired me to be in my creative field and to continue Fine Arts. That house was called Casa Serena . The inspiration I got that day is still with me. I have been in the creative field ever since.When I opened the gallery, I was looking for a name and the first thing that came to my mind was – Casa Serena ,” Nisansala traced the origins of her gallery.

She notes that the place was full of harmony and positive energy. She wanted to bring the same atmosphere to her gallery as well.

“This is full of positive energy and a creative place.Not only for artists but anyone. I want people to come here, feel happy and find positive energy. I do photo events, art events and exhibitions. When people come, they can find various types of creative items. I want to create harmony and that serenity within this place. That is why I call it Casa Serena . I realized that Casa Serena means tranquility and in Sinhala tranquility means Nisansala!” she noted with a smile.

Casa Serena Gallery is owned by Karunaratne and Sons Printers.

“That is our family business. My brother and I handle the business. I didn’t have plans to open a gallery this soon but I have always had the idea.Being an artist I thought I can run a gallery, sometime maybe after my retirement.We handle books and annual reports in our printing business. So we wanted to create our own product range. My brother is also very creative.

More beautiful items

Stunning fabrics

He is a designer as well. We were both looking for a place in Colombo to have our own product range. We found this place. My brother didn’t know I had this dream. He just came and told me that he found a nice place and that we should go and check it out.He even suggested that I run a gallery as there is ample space in the venue. I was like : ‘oh wow great!’. From then and there I took the project. My brother was behind., so I took on the task of renovating the place. It took me about one and a half years. That is how things worked out for me,” she explained.

Remarkable incident

Nisansala’s slogan is : ‘Art is my life, life is an art’.

“My father was sick one day when I was about three and a half years old. My mother took my brothers and sisters to school and I had just started nursery school. They decided I could stay with my father. So that day when Thatha was in the bed, I remember I was drawing something. My father had a green colored van and a green colored car. I did a sketch of those two vehicles. When my mother returned with my brothers and sisters and saw my work they all praised me. For me, up to today I wonder why they did it. It was a remarkable incident.

That’s where I guess everything started. At school I really liked dancing. So I took up dancing and art. My parents supported my artistic talents and both my art teacher as well as my dancing teacher asked me to continue art and dancing. We have to select what subject to take at grade five.Then I decided to continue with art. I love nature. Even after school, once I went home, being in the garden was the most pleasurable thing for me.I loved talking to plants.Being with nature inspired me to create something new. I was able to pursue my passion with the support of my family and friends,” she said.

Nisansala wants the gallery to be a hub of art and creativity. She wants to promote that and share that amongst others.

“Being an artist what I’ve noticed that people love art. But sometimes they don’t know how to appreciate or how to enjoy it. Sometimes, they don’t know how to find time because of their busy life schedule.So the art events I have here are not exclusively for people with talent. It is for anybody. When you tired, you splash water on your face to refresh. Art is a refreshment for your life. It is a stress reliever,” she said.

Taking an example for Sri Lankan history Nisansala explains,”We had a culture where everything was mixed with an aesthetic side. In agriculture and farming there are Goyam Kavi. Then there are temple paintings. It is education. After work the villagers get together and did Bali Thovil . Those things are full of creativity. That is the inspiration for them to go forward. I want to create that awareness,” she noted.

Craft artisans

The items in the boutique are all for sale. However in the future Nisansala wants to focus on only paper related items.

“I want to pay more attention to the gallery and the design. At the moment most of the items are for sale because we want to come up with a new look. Right now I have art and craft. Another thing I want to do is to improveand promote our art and craft sector. We have lots of resources in this country but we must motivate and guide our craft artisans. I think I have the capacity to do that,” said the young lady with a strong bond to nature.

“We are part of nature. We need nature but we have all created a man made setting today. That is why we have issues like global warming. I find that when we live according to nature, life is very simple and you can enjoy and find happiness. It is something you will feel. Early in the morning the sun rise is beautiful. It cleanses your mind, it cleanses your system. You don’t have to go to a particular place. As soon as you go out you can see the sky above you. You have to feel the fresh air. At night you can watch the stars. This constant contact with nature is like a meditation to me. Time to time I try to go to beautiful areas in Sri Lanka, away from the city, where you can enjoy nature. That really inspired me for my work,” she elaborated.

Graphic designing

So who has inspired Nisansala?

“The very first are my parents because they discovered my talents from an early age and never saying ‘no’ to my creativity. In our society, there are times when some people say: ‘I have the talents for this, but my parents didn’t let me do it’. In that case, I’m really lucky. I didn’t have to face that situation.

Attractive books on display

My father used to travel a lot around the world. Every single visit, he made sure he got something for me like an art book, paint brush or paint. I still have some of those paintings. My mother was also the same. When I was painting they never disturbed me. At that time my father thought it was better I do graphic designing because of our printing business.At that time there were no graphic designing degrees in the country. He sent me to America for my higher studies.

While I was there, I realized that more than graphic designing I liked Fine Arts. So I did designing and fine arts in photography. It was a really good move because now I’m into designing, photography as well as Fine Arts. It is a broad range,” she said. We live in a world with endless conflict. We see it on the news each day. What is Nisansala’s take on this? Can Art play a role here?

“Art is like visual communication. It is another language. Like a writer uses pen and paper to write their thoughts, what we do the same with a paintbrush or any other medium. You can communicate visually as an artist. Visual communication is a very powerful language.

That is the very first language one would learn. As soon as we are born, we don’t know how to speak any other language. We identify things. Cave paintings were a means of communication then. Art is a very powerful universal language. So you should know your basics. In art, color, form, lines are fundamental things a creative person should know.

If that person knows how to use the language properly, they can deliver a great message to the viewers. There is a thorough connection between colour and the human mind,” she said.

Nisansala also does guest lecturing for various organizations sharing her knowledge of creativity. She is not an eight to five person because she doesn’t know when inspiration will occur.