Suwanitha’s ‘Inspiration on Canvas’ exhibition held

An exhibition ‘Inspiration on Canvas’ by Sri Lankan artist Suwanitha Senanayake was held at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery recently. A collection of over 50 paintings was on display at the exhibition.

As a painter of many years in drawing, splashing and experimenting, she has ventured from canvas to mixed media combining oil paint, cloth, paper, jute and wood adding unusual combinations of textural appeal.

As a child prodigy, Suwanitha’s paintings received recognition from her early years being selected for grade Art Prizes every year as a schoolgirl. Her paintings were selected by the Education Department to adorn the cover of a textbook. Since then she took great pleasure in developing her unique style as a painter and this included completing 20 paintings for her hotel in Kandy.

Her work showcases painted flowers, women in strikingly different attire or birds of different species. All of these are predetermined but the painter allows for the concept to develop spontaneously. A unique feature of her work is that she rarely engages in paintings depicting sadness or pain unless in a very abstract sense. To this extent her work is a form of escapism from the reality of a harsh and callous world.

Suwanitha remembers with gratitude her childhood art teacher Cora Abraham and her one time neighbour Lateefa Ismail who guided, inspired and advised her to stage her first exhibition.

Her objective is to teach the art of painting to students in villages using basic materials. Part proceeds from this exhibition will be channeled to take care of children with heart ailments and to protect the wild elephant.

The post Suwanitha’s ‘Inspiration on Canvas’ exhibition held appeared first on DailyNews.