Soulscapes, where creativity flowed
Encouraging young people in art and design: Shyamala Pinto Jayawardena
Deeply rooted in a woven tale, lined with pastels, shades of red, green and blue, sculptures moulded with clay – and installations were among the art works seen at ‘Soulscapes’ presented by the Shyamala School of Art.
The work collected over one and half years, of 180 students and exhibited on November 27 and 28 at the Lionel Wendt, was a deep dive into the young artists’ psyche – who they are, how they express themselves and how they were created.
Soulscapes, “becomes one landscape of the inner soul of a young person,” says Shyamala Pinto Jayawardena.
The art school, founded in 2001 was Shyamala’s dream from a young age. “If you believe in something you really want to do, you can achieve it,” she says with conviction. Consistency has kept the art school going with students ranging in ages from 4-18.
Looking through the paintings hanging neatly on the walls of the Wendt, we stop by a portrait that one of her A’L students had created. The portrait was of a girl looking into the distance, her dark green skirt flowing out of the large portrait. The student had never used oil paints before.
“Art and design is something we need to encourage our young people to do, especially young people who are very talented, says Shyamala, adding that parents sometimes find it difficult to understand that art can be a profession. “Talent is something you have to hunt – you have to sometimes dig for it, and when you find it, you need to allow it to grow.”
Shyamala gives her students freedom to decide what medium they want to create with, which helps them find inspiration. Being in a creative space has helped them cope with the struggles in their lives and fulfil their inner child. “Young people these days sometimes don’t have someone to talk to about how they feel. If art can move into that void, into that space, I think we are going to serve many people,” she says.
A range of exhibits
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