Paintings inspired by observation
If every artist has a signature style of his or her own, Jayantha Silva’s is to capture the individual human form on canvas. ‘Expressions -12’ Jayantha Silva’s annual exhibition of figurative art will be held on June 6 and 7 at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery from 10 a.m onwards showcasing the artist’s inborn talent to bring to life on canvas the rural folk and their lifestyles. A preview of the exhibition will take place on June 5 at 6.30 p.m.
Jayantha: The artist in him re-emerged after a lapse of 20 years
As a school leaver, Jayantha chose advertising/commercial art as his fulltime profession but as a child artist he had the ability as well as the interest to sketch human figures/portraits, he recalls. It was after a 20-year break that Jayantha decided to try his hand at his childhood love once again.
“One day, I did a painting, and after I completed it I realised that the artist in me had stayed on over the years. Thereafter, I did a painting every week as I found it relaxing. It was like a meditation for me,” he says, adding that the completion of his tenth painting made him want to hold an exhibition. Since then, an annual exhibition has now become something he never misses.
Jayantha’s first exhibition held at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery in 2003 turned out to be a huge success. He was able to sell most of his paintings and this encouraged him immensely to pursue his art, he says.
“I was under the impression that people always go for abstract art or sceneries. My maiden exhibition was an eye-opener in that sense,” Jayantha explains adding that during the initial stages he leaned heavily on acrylics as the medium of painting but gradually moved towards soft pastels and charcoal as well. Expressions 12 will consist of paintings done using all these mediums, he adds.
The figurative form is the most challenging, mainly because it is important to get the details of the human face hundred percent right- something that Jayantha thoroughly enjoys. He has even taken on many commissions for portraits of those living abroad, he says.
Adding that one of his past exhibitions- ‘Smiles of Sri Lanka’ – a collection of figurative art he showcased was a huge success, Jayantha reveals that most of the time, it is by observation that he is able to bring on canvas, the thoughts hidden in his mind.
“I observe a lot and probably have a photographic memory through which I recall the things I have observed, years after. These things probably inspire and influence my paintings,” he says.
‘Expressions 12’ will have over 50 figurative art paintings.