Going wild with nuts, bolts, silencers
View(s):The exhibits are striking, maybe even startling. Birds and animals, made of scrap metal, yet instantly recognisable in their composition. The artist says he made quick sketches in the wild and then gathered waste metal products such as motor parts, cutlery and assembled them proportionately to form creations of stark beauty.
Some of Lalith’s creations
“The journey towards an exhibition began with something different from what I’ve attempted so far, doing sculptures in live settings, and experiencing wildlife as never before,” says Lalith Senanayake. The artist will hold his exhibition Fe+ in the relaxed setting of Villa 82 at Stratford Avenue, Kirulapone from August 25 to 31.
“In my mind every nut and bolt, silencer, steering wheel, that was thrown aside and piled up created a definite shape in my mind’s eye that could be beautified and re-created contributing ultimately to the goal of conservation of Nature.
“My meandering through jungles and villages, cities and people when time permits, has not only given me immense pleasure, but instilled in my soul the rhythms of the peoples and their cultures. Some of this work I carried out in Anuradhapura.”
To marvel at the skills of the sculptors, to think of all the architectural beauty, to even imagine the hydro technical engineering utilized then, while not to forgetting the wildlife- the elephants, peacocks, and the hornbill as part of nature and the chena crops that spread across vast areas, was an 
unforgettable experience for the artist.
“I could sense the presence of the elephants from a distance through smell, while patiently and painstakingly putting metallic nails together one after the other. I soon was told by my colleagues while doing a sculpture of a Hornbill, that these birds were in fact responsible for the loss of large amounts of chili from Anuradhapura plots and hence nicknamed ‘Chili Robbers’. To see for myself how they went about doing this I waited for hours atop a ficus tree. Even the snakes that slithered past me took no notice of me, perhaps knowing that I was another child of nature, “ Lalith says.
Lalith works as a cartoonist and graphic designer for the Rivira newspaper.