This week, we reached out to an outstanding artist who aims to recast a narrative tarnished by a history of violence and war through his art, Sivasubramaniam Kajendran.
Kajendran is a multidisciplinary artist who was born in Mullaitivu. He is a Fine Arts (Art History) graduate of the University of Jaffna and earned a Master in Art and Design from the Beaconhouse National University (BNU), Lahore, Pakistan. He has also received the UNESCO fellowship from the Madanjeet Singh Institute for South Asian Arts (UMISSA).
His collection ‘Hope’ is currently showcased at Paradise Road Galleries, at the Gallery Café and the final exhibition will be on June 29 from 10 am till midnight.
The collection demonstrates the struggles of war with a whimsicalness that arouses curiosity among the viewers with its brave colour pallet and unconventional brushstrokes.
In conversation with Kajendran, here’s what we found out;
Q: How did you get into art?
A: When I was a child, I did small drawings for my sister, in her school textbooks, this was how I started drawing and doodling. When I first started to create art, I did it for others and to make them happy.
Then in school, I studied art until ALs, I drew for fun and was very attached to my creations.
In fact, before the war ended when we were moving around, we got checked at checkpoints, and this one time a policewoman opened my bag and found my art portfolio and she was shocked, as she believed that most people carried around essentials and that I considered my art to be essential. From a very young age I believed art could make a difference in the world.
Q: Why did you decide to pursue your higher education in fine arts?
A: Fortunately, I got an opportunity to enter university in 2009, because I studied art for my AL. I studied art history; I didn’t study art practice. I studied Art practice at the Ramanadan Academy of art, which is attached to the University of Jaffna.
During this course I was lucky to learn under Prof. Sanathanathan, Dr. Pakiyanathan, and Sivaruban. They taught us how to explore our personal lives through art and education. I got a lot of advice from them. This experience changed my perspective on life and embodied art in my life.
After graduating from university, I got a permanent job at the University and it was a very good opportunity but I resigned because I got a scholarship from a Pakistan University, it was a wonderful opportunity for me.
I studied many mediums during my tenure there. I studied my capabilities. I did video art, performance art, installation art, paintings, photography, and many things. It added character to myself as an artist.
Q: What is your favourite thing about being an artist?
A: Artists believe art has the power to make history and make an impact on society. I believe that artists are creative and innovative about the struggles of people, they raise questions through art, and they find solutions through art. Therefore, being an artist is a privilege, as we get to see this world in a unique way.
Q: Do you think the hardships you faced in your childhood made you a more resilient, and versatile artist?
A: It does in a way, life teaches us that things can change in an instant. For instance, I lost my mother and my elder sister to the tsunami, and in 2009 I lost my younger sister, I also received several injuries during the war and had a hard time and all of these incidents and the pain that came with it have translated into my art.
It may be restricting sometimes due to the devastating loss of loved ones but I have tried to pick myself up and get in a good mood for my life through my work. This is what we all do, don’t we?, we all try to create a happy environment to live in.
Q: What inspires you to be creative?
A: There are two things that inspire me, one is the experiences in life and education. The things we go through in life add to how we see the world and then you get the knowledge of how the world is moving forward and how the art world is moving forward. Basically, all of these things are inspirations for me to create.
Q: Do you have a favourite artist and what makes you love them?
A: I am very fascinated by the work of Kara Walker, Harry James Marshell and David Hockney, Lucian Freud. And some Sri Lanka artists such as Shenathanan, Chandraguptha Thenuwara, Jagath Weerasinghe, Mohamed Cader, and many other people like Pradeep Chandrasiri. They are my inspiration to produce the kind of work I produce.
Q: You believe that young artists can create a new world by telling old stories. Elaborate on this
A: Yes, young artists have a different experience, we should listen to their stories. When we really think about history, it is a story that keeps passing generations. so young people should listen to stories of our predecessors and understand it.
Q: Tell us about “Our Stories”?
A: This is a very nice and important program organised by the Asian Foundation. This brought together artists, resource persons, and young people who have knowledge about art and are interested in getting into art. They came together and listened to our stories, with no barrier in religion or ethnicity. So these artists were introduced to experiences of all different ethnicities, in a process of working towards social harmony.
Q: Do you want to make your art a tool for people to heal from their struggles?
A: Art is a tool to heal our society. I definitely use my art to do so.
Q: What does your art mean to you?
A: My art represents a lot of things. It represents my internal struggles and the struggles in society. My art, questions, answers and criticizes, caste history, colonisation, gender identity, caste identity, racism, religious biases, and political struggles.
Q: What is your creative process?
A: It is very simple, as an artist we have a strong understanding of society and my creative process includes the struggles of society and finding a solution to the same. I try to experiment with delivering my art through many mediums.
Q: Let’s talk about your ongoing exhibition ‘Hope’?
A: The Hope exhibition is happening right now and will end on June 29. This new series, I believe my viewers will find very interesting. This in fact is a portrayal of a person who is trying to escape a tragedy. I wanted to communicate with the people about the struggles we had in the past and how we can move forward.
Q: Do you think artists can change the world?
A: As I have already mentioned, yes I do believe artists can change the world. If you see the work of world-renowned artists such as Picasso, you can clearly see how people are longing for freedom. I have to respect people as an artist and people should respect me for my art and engage with the said art and then together we can change the world. work you can even see this.
