Born and raised amidst a lot of hardship, Nihal was the last of a family of six. With the financial difficulties that his family faced, he often resorted to reading borrowed ‘chithrakatha’ papers and tried to replicate the characters from the stories, although he had no formal education in art.
Nihal will be launching his maiden exhibition “Axis Mundi” showcasing his work, which gives the definition of deities that has been predefined by history and society.
The exhibition opens at the J D A Perera Gallery, on November 2 at 7pm and would be open to the public on November 3 and 4 from 8 am to 8 pm.
As a child Nihal never knew much about his roots, beyond his own parents, and attended school mainly to escape the rough environment at home. He ended his school career during the JVP riots, and without any direction would seek employment, which he found far away from Colombo, his home town.
He drifted from one job to another to make ends meet, again, without much direction, and his passion for art drifted away eventually. Somehow, the broken child in him eventually started haunting him, and he took art therapy as a healing process, and this is where he was encouraged to start painting again, and writing.
It was then that Nihal felt the need to acquire a formal education in fine arts, but he was already in his early 40s which inherently discouraged him from entering an institution.
During this time he was introduced to Anoma Wijewardene and got the opportunity to study under her for a short period, and it was her passion that encouraged him to pursue what he loved most. He continued with Anoma’s group of students participating in several group exhibitions. Eventually, he was able to release his first ever short story publication, ‘In the Corner of My Love Life’ by Equal Ground Organization.
‘While I was in the development stage of my paintings trying to figure out how to recreate my imagination, one of my greatest inspirations was Tarot Garden by Niki de Saint Phalle. I try not to follow too many rules or techniques or any pre planning, and just let the colours flow through my paper and canvas, and sometimes surprise myself with the final outcome’, Nimal adds.