Among all kinds of human expressions, art is the most prominent way of expressing human sentiments. A person who never fears colouring his thoughts on a piece of paper sees his reflection on it. A frank artist always comes up with amazing revelations through art. Those who discovered the artist within themselves are unstoppable creators of work of art.
Chathrini Bandara is one such aspiring young artist studying at Colombo Musaeus College. As a student who pursues the arts stream in the Advanced Level, Chathrini came up with her debut art exhibition after two years of hard work. While speaking to Sunday Observer Youth Magazine, Chathrini revealed how her artistic moves turned her up to be a painter.
Q: How did it all start?
A: I became interested in drawing and painting when I was in Grade 3. My parents say that I was always fascinated by art and colours since I was very small, but I seriously took to drawing and painting from Grade 6 onwards.
Q: What motivated you to hold an exhibition?
A: I have done drawing and painting for a long time. I realized that is what my passion is. Over the years, I have worked hard to improve my skills. Then I came to a point where I believed it was time to take things to the next level and display my art on a platform for others to see and be inspired. Having an exhibition to showcase my art was also an opportunity to be critiqued and get valuable input from others to improve my skills further.
However, due to some health concerns, I had to pause and temporarily switch off from my artistic skills at one point. I am glad that now I overcame that challenge. Today, painting is something that helped me immensely to be where I am right now. So having this exhibition is a testament and vindication of my life’s journey over the last few years and how much art has played a part in it.
Q: How many exhibits were there in your exhibition?
A: There were over sixty exhibits displayed at the exhibition.
Q: How long did it take to finish painting all the exhibits?
A: The paintings in the exhibition are ones that I have done over the past couple of years. Some of them took me a lot of time to complete and involved a lot of work, and others were less of a hassle but turned out to be ones that I am happy and satisfied with.
Q: Who helped you to learn painting?
A: I am extremely grateful to my teachers including the ones at school who helped me hone my skills in painting throughout the years. My mother, father, and my elder brother are my pillars of strength who were always with me all along the journey.
Q: Who are artists who have inspired you?
A: In terms of Sri Lankan artists, I look up to and admire the work of David Painter and Soleus Mendis. I have also got inspiration from the work of greats like Pablo Picasso and Michael Angelo.
Q: How do you plan to enhance your skills?
A: I would like to keep on painting and branch out into different aspects of painting with the help of my teachers to improve my skills. I love to travel around Sri Lanka and abroad to see great works of art and be inspired by them and learn from everyone along the way.
Q: What are the challenges you face in your creative work and how do you resolve them?
A: One of the biggest challenges I have sometimes faced is the lack of confidence and belief in my abilities. I am eternally grateful to my parents who have always believed in me and my skills and have been there through thick and thin and always made me believe in my skills and all the teachers who have helped me perfect them.
Q: What is the message you have for those who desire to become an artist in the future?
A: With the little experience that I have gained, I can say that drawing and painting continuously in a calm and serene environment with much concentration and a relaxed mind will certainly help improve one’s talents in this field.