Veteran artist Priyantha Abeysundara’s exhibition ‘Swabhavi 3’ concluded at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery, Colombo recently. Minister of Lands and Parliamentary affairs, Gayantha Karunatileka was the the Chief Guest at the opening ceremony. The exhibition showcased the spectacular cultural heritage, beauty and simplicity of the traditional lifestyle of the people of Sri Lanka through naturalistic drawings and paintings. People flocked into the gallery to have a look and appreciate the artist’s work.
“There were so many positive comments from visitors,” said Abeysundara. “I feel like I am getting younger when I see your paintings as it is really good for the mind,” “Your paintings and the realistic drawings reminds me of past. I recall my childhood days in the village and its beautiful landscapes,” the visitors said.
Abeysundara spoke to Young Voice about his life as an artist in Sri Lanka. He said “According to my personal experience of being an artist, I find that one does not get the due respect for the profession. Today due to the digitalization, most of the drawings are technically done but it can never be equivalent to the paintings which are manually done,” he said.
“The artists who have talent do not try to polish their skills due to digitalization thinking that it is not impossible to do a good piece of artwork. Almost all the countries around the world give value to manual paintings as its unique in its own way but Sri Lankans do not appreciate manual paintings. It is a pathetic situation in the country at present.”
“In Sri Lanka most of the artists do not have academic knowledge even though they possess artistic talents by birth. Artists do not have the time to polish their talents due to the work loads and busy lifestyles. Only a certain amount of people in Sri Lanka know how to appreciate arts and paintings,” he said.
Abeysundara said that he always draws and paints realistic frames that are not modern. When questioned why, he said, “I always want to draw in a language that the majority or common man can understand and appreciate. I draw realistic paintings by trying my best to apply all the academic knowledge that I have grasped. When I draw realistic paintings, people will start to look up to me when they understand my paintings.
My only dream is that I should be remembered even after my death because of my paintings. I try my best to polish my modern art skills. People in Sri Lanka are still not knowledgeable enough to absorb and understand modern art.”
Abeysundara feels that a piece of artwork should be beautiful and unique in its own way as well as that academic rules should also be applied in order to judge an artwork.
“The theme of a drawing or artwork should be universal for it to be appreciated and liked by the people. I always think about the artistic values when painting. I try to do modern art but I cannot move from my realistic creativity. I am trying my best and maybe I will be able to do a good piece of modern artwork soon,” Abeysundara said with a smile.
