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The young designers of Bellucci presented a fashion show featuring evening and casual wear under the JLD-Spoil Yourself and Brown Sugar labels at the Crescat lobby last week.
Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara

Creating a dramatic mood
By Esther Williams
It is the dramatic effect that interior designer turned artist Suni Nirmalingam goes for when she paints - something that gives the room a finish, thereby creating the appropriate mood.

This contemporary artist had no professional training but had always shown a flair for interior design. Her schooldays saw her pottering about with paints and she was later often called upon for suggestions on interiors or to do up the homes of her family and friends, a hobby she enjoyed thoroughly.

It was only after her children grew up that she seriously considered becoming professional and launched Colma Private Limited, a firm that engages in commercial interiors. However, Suni recalls with gratitude that it was being commissioned for her art by well-known architect Nela de Zoysa to compliment her concept of the BOI office and later the offices of the then Minister for Housing and Construction, Mangala Samaraweera, both high profile jobs, that gave her work much exposure.

Speaking of her projects, Suni says, "I seldom found in shops or galleries what I required for the room I was designing - to give it a certain feel. It was then that I started doing it myself." Being a 'hands on' person, Suni has always painted for pleasure, and the results depend on her mood.

Done on various surfaces using mixed media like oil, acrylics, etc., the unique creations of this contemporary artist are in rich earthy tones and are rather big. Leaning to the modern, her relief work creates a raised, uneven surface, offering a unique experience for those who appreciate art with a difference.

Today Suni Nirmalingam's paintings adorn the walls of the BOI, Colombo Hilton, Growth Lanka and homes of many friends, with her reputation as an unconventional artist having spread by word of mouth.

Suni's elegant home that she designed herself is an example of gracious living. She is still called upon to do special interior design projects but prefers to spend more time painting. Urged by friends, especially Nayanthara Fonseka, Suni will hold her first exhibition on September 11 and 12 at the Harold Pieris Gallery between 10.30 a.m and 6.00 p.m. The exhibition is aptly called 'Undefined'.

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