Unlabelled paintings give freedom of perceptions
As an Ordinary Level student, Vikum Bandara noticed that he could draw better than his peers. Today, presenting an exhibition of his work at the Gallery Café, he as a professional artist has a lot of ideas to share about the subject.
An abstract artist, Vikum does not like to label his art and limit it to a specific theme. He feels that a person’s knowledge, experience and likes and dislikes of art will shape their opinion of his art and therefore shies away from labelling each individual picture.
His entire exhibition is being held under the title ‘soul – the spirit of modern man’ but even this he feels should not be over-explained because people will try to look for the themes the artists give rather than experiencing the work.
“Ehema chithrayakata mathrukawak dunnothin, eya ae mathrukawa oulwe thiyagene indala chithra thula eka hoyanawa (if you give a painting a title, people will keep that in mind and look for it in the picture)” he says.
Vikum uses oils and acrylics for his work. “Sometimes using one medium is restrictive so I use both oil and acrylic paints to get the effect I want,” he explains. A painting can take anywhere from a few days to a few months to complete.
Vikum hopes that people will come for his exhibition. “When you go for a play or concert, you have to pay. For an exhibition you don’t have to pay – all you have to do is spend some time. I hope that people will come and see my work,” he says.
“Soul – the spirit of the modern man”by Vikum Bandara will be on until July 20 at the Paradise Road Galleries at 2, Alfred House Road, Colombo 3 from 10 a.m. to midnight. For further information, please contact the gallery at 011 2582162 or email them at art@paradiseroad.lk.
