Metaphor of mushrooms

“Why mushrooms?" I asked veteran artist Kingsley Gunatillake, whose latest exhibition of paintings features clusters of giant mushrooms in an abstract landscape.

The response was more complex than I expected. The initial concept stemmed from Kingsley’s strong desire to move away from his ‘Displaced’ paintings. “Since 1996, I have held seven exhibitions on the theme ‘Displaced’, which dealt with human displacement as a result of the civil conflict and the tsunami natural disaster. Quite frankly, I was tired of that theme and its sad connotations,” he explained.

Seeking a more optimistic yet thought-provoking discourse for his art, Kingsley conceptualized the allegory of the giant mushrooms. Mushrooms tend to sprout in neglected, damp, hidden spots. The dark areas and mushrooms are a metaphor for the apathy in society which leads to various consequences. The implication is that often people’s uncaring and ignorant ways breed ‘mushrooms’ - ill feelings that can ultimately create terrible situations.

The mushroom’s fragility is also significant because Kingsley believes that crises such as war or crime that emerge due to neglect and misunderstanding can easily be averted or resolved with adequate care and effort.

Furthermore, there are several types of mushrooms: some are edible while others are poisonous. Hence the mushroom represents the uncertainty in today’s world where one is unsure of one’s step, having to be cautious because what lies ahead could be either beneficial or unsafe.

These perceptive paintings are being displayed in Kingsley’s fourth exhibition for 2006, at the Paradise Road Galleries till November 22.

He emphasizes that he is “not speaking as a sociologist, politician or philosopher” with his theme of mushrooms but merely making poetic observations about society from an artist’s standpoint.

A perfectionist, Kingsley took two to three months to complete each of his acrylic on canvas paintings. He incorporates layering as well as contrasting colours in bright and neutral tones in his art. Indian neoclassical music and the work of expressionist painter Wassily Kandinsky were sources of inspiration whilst he was creating this collection.