Arts
Inspired by insects
View(s):- ‘Metal Doodler’ Salome Nanayakkara’s focus is on transforming memories in her exhibition
of mini-installations now on at the Saskia Fernando Gallery
By Shannon Salgadoe
A predominantly male-dominated area since it requires welding and tough labour, it’s quite rare to see a woman doing metal sculpting. Art enthusiasts are thus bound to be fascinated by what is displayed at the Saskia Fernando Gallery this month where the intricately detailed sculptures of mixed media artist Salome Nanayakkara are featured in a series of mini-installations.
Some of Salome’s works now on display at the exhibition. Pix by Akila Jayawardena
Salome, or ‘The Metal Doodler’ as she is known on social media, has always enjoyed being creative with crafting, referring to herself as a ‘serial crafter’ with no formal education or training in the arts. Around five years ago, she started working with wire and making little sculptures that looked like metal doodles, wanting to create something that didn’t require technical training or skills usually needed in traditional sculpture.
The innovative mother of two started off reusing scrap metal and discarded phone and watch parts that people would throw out, along with clay, to create little detailed insects which she fondly calls ‘moth bots’ and ‘copper flies’. “I used to just make them with watch parts and recycled plastic and then suddenly there was like a massive demand for them. Quite a lot of people really liked them and I just ended up selling them,” says Salome.
Salome Nanayakkara
Compared to when she first started, Salome says that sourcing metal and parts has become significantly easier over the years. “There was a time when I would go looking for scrap metal and watch parts around Pettah and watch shops. As a woman, it sometimes can be tedious having to go ask a bunch of men for stuff like that, because they don’t really understand what I’m doing with it. Obviously with time that has changed because even my vendors know me now, so it’s a little different.”
Once her work became quite the hit within the art scene, with an opportunity to be a part of events like the Fairway Art Jazz Festival, her creations morphed into bigger pieces with copper and brass. She started getting more and more commissions which required bigger and bolder work, such as commissions from a few hotels and restaurants.
The work that is on display at the Saskia Fernando Gallery this month is directly tied to her full-time job as a psychotherapist, where she does some work with victims of trauma or abuse. The focus of the exhibit is on ‘reclaiming memory’. Using her experiences in her work, she explores how painful or absent memories can be reinterpreted and/or replaced to make them more bearable. She draws inspiration from how nature always reclaims what is discarded through processes of decomposition and decay while transforming it into a thing of beauty. Salome uses insects and fungi to depict reclaimed and reworked memories emerging from decay in the form of minuscule appendages peeking out or lichen that grows in between the cracks in the ground. “That’s how I wanted to connect my bugs to this theme so that the idea is that these little creatures are making new this memory and it’s not the bad and traumatic memory that it used to be. I’ve taken it and made something new with it. So that is what these insects have done; they’ve reclaimed it and transformed it into something new and beautiful,” elaborates Salome.
As a creative person, she has also experimented with different forms of art like homeware, resin work, and even a saree or two. This came about mainly due to COVID-19 when everything else came to a halt. “Those were different things that I tried. They went quite well, but it’s just not my thing. It was great for a while, but again I prefer just doing my art to things like homeware because it becomes very common and it was not the direction I want to take my brand in,” explains Salome.
Salome is grateful to her many repeat customers, saying, “I have a very solid client base now because it’s been like five years. I have a very organic following on Instagram and a massive clientele who are repeat customers who usually like buying gifts from me or basically whenever I just make something and post it, I’ll end up selling it that evening or the next day. I’ve been very lucky like that.”
For those interested in getting to grips with her art form, Salome will also be conducting two workshops on her craft on June 15 and 24. For more information contact +94 11 7429010 or email: info@saskiafernandogallery.com
The series of mini-installations is on display at the Saskia Fernando Gallery from June 1 to 30.