Putting together the puzzle of love
“Art is not only what you see on a canvas. It could even be someone’s thoughts. It has more to it than style and technique. It is something that is meant to be felt and experienced,” says artist Sanjaya Bandara Senavirathna, a rising star in the Sri Lankan contemporary art scene. The vibrant abstract pieces created by this young artist are mainly based on “love” and a concept of “positive thinking” which he feels are two very important aspects of life that must be shared.
Now 35, Sanjaya first became interested in art when he was 13 years. The appreciation he always received in school for his work was his initial encouragement. After following art as a subject in school he opted for higher education in art, graduating from the University of Visual and Performing Arts, Colombo 7 in 2008. Since then Sanjaya has held five successful solo exhibitions and been a part of many national and international group art exhibitions. “Even though many in our culture yet do not accept art as a worthwhile career I am proud of the distance I have come and I am happy to be an artist,” he said.
He uses a variety of media including paper, paint, chalk, rubber paint, acrylic paint, oils and water colours. Combining them with different forms, he feels he describes the expression of love at its best since similar to his paintings, love too has no specific shape or form.
Sanjaya’s latest exhibition The Puzzle of Love is now on at the Gallery Café and will continue until June 25th. Through the paintings he says he seeks to play an intellectual game with his viewers as they puzzle out his paintings getting drawn deeper into them.
He feels Sri Lanka still has not arrived at a point where contemporary art is appreciated or truly valued and it is his hope that with time we would come to a mindset where art is given the place it deserves.
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