'A tumultous journey to a tranquil state of mind' at the Lionel Wendt Gallery

It’s the dream most children have - starting a new project, be it singing, dancing, playing an instrument or taking up a sport - only to discover that they are surprisingly good at it.

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By Kaveesha Fernando

It’s the dream most children have - starting a new project, be it singing, dancing, playing an instrument or taking up a sport - only to discover that they are surprisingly good at it.

But does anyone imagine finding a hidden talent during their retirement? Kekuli Unamboowe Abeyratne did. A past pupil of St. Bridget’s Convent, she had never been known as artistically inclined and had never thought of herself as such while in school. However, she is now holding her first art exhibition, today, December 3rd at the Lionel Wendt Gallery after discovering her talent only 11 months ago! She says her art began with her doodles. ‘I used to doodle all the time - even when I was talking to someone on the phone I would doodle’ and she shows us proof - pages of a phone book with doodles in the margins.

‘My daughters saw this and encouraged me to draw. Who knew I could do so much?’ Her youngest daughter Iranjali replies ‘I did!’She had begun to draw after her husband passed away as a way of keeping herself occupied. With only art books, a few articles and the advice of a friend to go by she embarked upon a project which would soon become both a passion and an obsession - she even found herself buying art supplies and painting while on a six day trip to Singapore!

Speaking about her exhibition ‘A Tumultuous Journey to a Tranquil State of Mind’ she says that she never painted with the intention of exhibiting her work. ‘A cousin of mine saw my paintings and suggested that I have an exhibition and since I already had 60 pieces I thought why not?’ 

Iranjali tells us of the meaning behind her mother’s work ‘I think my mother paints subconscious feelings and emotions,’ she says. ‘She never plans her drawings - she just paints it!’ We admire one of her paintings - a lovely collection of expressions which she calls ‘The Egyptian Faces’. We also admire her many ‘doodles’ - breathtakingly beautiful black and white paintings with interesting shapes and figures woven in which look almost as if one of her doodles has come to life in painting form.

Reflecting on how her life has turned out, Kekuli felt her sister, who had inherited their father’s artistic talent, would be the one to become an artist. She recalls how her sister would draw and her father would encourage her - although her sister didn’t embark upon the art because she found it too arduous a task. ‘My father would never have even dreamt that I would be the one painting one day’, she says with a smile.

Speaking about always being positive she says ‘I think we must always make the most of what we have and never be negative.’ She has definitely done just that. A Tumultous Journey to a Tranquil State of Mind is on at the Lionel Wendt Gallery on today from 8.00 a.m to 7.00 p.m.