Anup shares his bliss

Multi-coloured, multi-patterned long sleeves in something that looks like velvet, multi-coloured handloom sarong, barefoot, long hair, bushy beard... Anup Vega seems to fit the definition of eccentric. His artist hands are slender, his ever-active fingers - adorned with antique rings - complementing his facial expressions.

Anup Vega was born alongside four siblings, to Kandyan parents, mother a school-teacher and father a photographer. They appreciated the fact that their son was artistically inclined, but did not see him growing up to be an artist by profession. Their dream for him, as with all parents in the generation, was to become a doctor, engineer or lawyer. "Their attitude was typical, you know?" Anup complains, "but I had decided lives ago that I was going to follow my heart" he adds with a smile. "I was just like any other kid, I fell in love with the magic of pictures appearing in front of me." But unlike most other kids, he continued to love that 'magic' and is still living in it.

Yet we all know magic is easier said than done. "Difficulty has been there for me, every step of the way" he says, "it's different challenges in different stages in time, but they are always there." According to what Anup believes, these challenges are what he refers to as the 'maya'. "They are illusions created to distract us from the bliss that surrounds us," he explains, adding that he is riding the wave "I am free, and there is nothing I can complain about."

Anup wanted to quit school when he was only ten, an idea which received an absolute negative from his parents at the time. He broke free and left school once his O-Levels were over. "Leaving my parents' place was difficult, but I had confidence and my vision was very clear so there was nothing very difficult also. When you need the freedom, it is there..." he says of finally leaving the shelter of dependency on his parents.

His eyes gleam as he begins to describe life after that. "I started hanging out at art galleries" he reminisces. During this time he came across works of artists like Laki Senanayake and Rahju and found himself inspired. This led him to learn about and discover professional materials and mediums of art. “Suddenly I was being called a 'professional' artist!" he laughs, describing his ascension to "the action" of the art scene in Colombo.

At the same time, Anup was working as a chef, which earned him the extra money to buy the materials needed for painting. "Then I actually met Rahju, by accident," he says, "he told me I was an artist, and that I wasn't supposed to be chopping vegetables in some kitchen." Rahju also helped Anup sell some of his paintings. Anup went on to hold his first exhibition of paintings and connected with Rahju on another level since they were both followers of Osho, an Indian mystic and philosopher.

Anup suddenly becomes passionate, talking about his 'guru': "He is my main inspiration, my lighthouse. He made everything clear to me, the mysteries of life". Osho was Anup's guru, but what he really taught him was to rediscover his real guru in his parents. "Everything is a guru" he says now, "everything is always teaching you something if you are willing to learn."

"Some people stick to their zones of comfort, doing their own thing, but I'm like a rainbow, I like all the colours, and I am all the colours" is how he explains his interest in all forms of art. “Reality is moving, changing, travelling, rotating, with the wind or the clouds; you don't experience the same moment again" he explains. This is why he does not stick to one form of creative expression or one certain style of drawing. "People always expect what THEY want" Anup reflects, adding firmly that he does not conform because "freedom is freedom, it has to be unlimited and unconditional."

The predominant theme of Anup's latest exhibition titled 'Remaining Apart' which is now on at the Paradise Road Galleries Cafe focuses on the face; the ears, the eyes, the nose, the mouth and the third eye which are all symbolic of remaining apart from the maya and receiving bliss. He adds that the faces are a reflection of the Buddha "but not the Gautama," he quickly adds.

The exhibition has been timed to coincide with the Vesak Poya because Anup believes that the potential power of the full moon will enhance the effect the paintings will have on the viewers.

"I draw primarily for myself, my own pleasure" Anup says, "but in the end, I want to share the bliss I have discovered."