Dotting together lifelike scenes
Dots (Thith) marks the debut exhibition of veteran jewellery designer Sarath Ariyawansha’s collection of artworks at the Lionel Wendt this month.
He seeks most of his subjects through a camera lens first, capturing the desired snapshot and then scrupulously recreating them in ink with the use of an isograph pen. The result is a series of photorealistic scenes from nature, portraits, landscapes and more- all encompassed with a plethora of meticulously placed dots.
Sarath’s creations are highly detailed, shown in the way he accentuates every element in his drawings- from the ridges on twisting tree trunks to the dense, tangled layers of its exposed root system winding down beneath the water’s surface alongside river banks.
Also featured are crouching leopards lapping at water, majestic tuskers traipsing and trumpeting through rivers and serene statues nestled against a lush backdrop of forestry, all of which appear to have an almost fine mist or spray-painted finish due to the stylised use of these dots.
Such detailed depictions are borne out of hundreds of hours of work, says Sarath, sharing that a single creation can take over 200 hours to complete. While his upcoming exhibition will display his dot-styled artwork, he is also known to recreate scenes in other mediums including vibrant brushstrokes of watercolor and oil paintings.
Originally from Polonnaruwa, he schooled at Palugasdamana Maha Vidyalaya as a student following the arts stream. Although initially interested in studying art further for his higher education, he decided to pursue jewellery design as a profession instead as the vocation intrigued him. After joining the Gem Corporation, Sarath took his first steps in a storied 40-year career as a jewelry designer in 1982. He gained further experience and exposure to other styles and techniques by spending time in Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Switzerland and Italy where he attended jewellery exhibitions.
Sarath Ariyawansha
On his return to Sri Lanka, he joined Swarna Mahal as the chief designer and worked there for 20 years. He’s also the editor and publisher of his own magazine, Jewels of Sri Lanka since 2010.
He says his style, which he refers to as the dots concept, was developed during his time conceptualising jewellery designs. The isograph pen, a steel nibbed technical pen, which he uses to illustrate his jewellery designs eventually became his primary instrument to create the dot concept art which he began to develop in 2014.
“It’s like meditation. I can’t get the same effect by doing other styles like abstract art or other paintings. With the dot style I feel like I’m deep in meditation. Sometimes I continue till late in the night because it’s such a peaceful environment to create in”.
Dots (thith) will display 50 dot concept style pieces and 6 original jewellery designs in the form of silver necklaces fashioned with synthetic stones.
“When people see my work, I hope they see how unique the dot concept art style is” says Sarath with hopes that the style will gain more traction in the country’s artistic landscape despite its labour intensive nature.
The exhibition will be on from September 15-17 at 3 p.m. at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery.
Follow Sarath on Facebook and Instagram @dotsbysarath and on his website www.dotsbysarath.com
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