Druvinka returns with her canvas of timeless spirituality
Druvinka Madawela and Pinky Madawela’s Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings is now on at the Barefoot Gallery and will continue until November 19.
Playing with dark and light
She slithers into the depths of unknown realms;
Swaying to its magical rhythms,
Connecting with the mystical sprits
For what’s blind to our eyes,
Live amongst us.
In the light of the mystic Serpentress
Our hearts feel life as is…
And all that lies beyond…
Druvinka – a mystic Nagin and artist paints her life on the canvas. Born in a family of artists in Sri Lanka, she traversed to India in search of the unknown. At the age of 18, Druvinka found her home at Kalabhavan in Santiniketan in 1990. Since then, India has been the doorway to her inner sanctum.
Currently, she lives in the Himalayas creating works of heart. Exploring the cosmos – within and outside of her. Mediating as a pathway; she binds the worldly and unworldly spirits. Journeying through the magical realms, she rises to her inner power touching hearts; and nurturing other souls with love.
Layer upon layer: A mystical rendering from Druvinka (above, right)
Her soul breathes art through life – the love and pain; the suns and moons within. The nurturing fullness of love. The blinding eclipses of isolation. The painful bleakness of the moonless sky. Coiled in her endless cycles of life and death; moment by moment.
The spiritual world of Druvinka finds expression on the canvas. Breathing as layers of tempera, soaked in the depths of the rice paper. The spirits effervescent as the layers; come and go. They stay through journey; voicing themselves through the layers.
The darkest realms of ‘Patalaloka’ – the world beneath come alive; in mortar and stone. Through earth, water and fire, the wailing greys and blues awaken; mirroring the truths of our existence. The ‘Bhairava’ bows down to ‘Nagamma’ – the mother serpentress; surrendering himself to serve the universe. Playing the roles one must play; to sustain the laws of the cosmos. Her story is transient as her, waiting to awaken many. Yet timeless – forever finding forms and figures to express. Lighting up the darkest attics of our souls.
I sat there, moved and astounded. Watching her paint the layers of her ephemeral existence. She slithered in strokes and layers; washed in the waters of her life.
Her previous works represent the macro cosmos of the unknown realms. This time; she paints the depths of the Patalaloka in a smaller frame. Yet its meaning is too large for comprehension by our limited perception of it. For smallness can be as illusionary as largeness; yet each subject or medium is completely an individual cosmos; connected to everything else.
Druvinka’s story is endless as ‘Kala’ or time itself. Unfolding and unveiling into something magical, every single time. The spirits journey through the canvas; living and dying in the darkest wells of her heart.
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Bihar artist Pinky Madawela, who now makes her home in Colombo describes her work as playing with colour, luminescence, form and texture with gaiety and happiness. “This perhaps is an escape from the harsh realities I have witnessed in my home state in Bihar. Found objects and different resources of colour, other than the traditional ones. made me look to my local surroundings and build my philosophy,” she says.
Pinky’s most recent exhibition was held at the Sapumal Foundation with husband Shehan Madawela.