Different phases, different styles
As she celebrates a landmark in her artistic journey with a new exhibition, Iromie Wijewardena talks to Shanali Fernando
Iromie Wijewardena is celebrating 50 years of painting and also celebrating women with her exhibition at the Harold Pieris Gallery of the Lionel Wendt next week. The exhibition also takes viewers through the different phases she went through in her journey as an artist.
“I knew my calling was to paint,” she said when the Sunday Times met up with her, recalling her first solo exhibition as a schoolgirl in 1973, noting that well-received exhibition as a key moment, a turning point in her life.
This forthcoming exhibition is deeply personal, acknowledging what her art has meant to her - “to have been able to be an artist for 50 long years and to have my paintings being appreciated by the public over all these years through various styles,” she says. “One might even think it’s a collection of different artists put together as some paintings are distinctly different from others, but it’s the different phases and styles of art I went through these 50 years, from landscapes to temple murals to the most recent which is female figure compositions which I started in the early 2000s.”
Her love for portraying the serenity and beauty of women is evident in many of her works for she is deeply drawn to this theme. “I want to give value to the everyday mundane tasks that a woman does, be it drawing water from the river or picking flowers for the temple through the use of vibrant colours, and in turn empower and celebrate women through my work,” she says.
Interestingly she started out painting landscapes but says she soon realized that landscapes were for the camera. “I
wanted to be more creative.” A graduate of the very first batch of the University of Kelaniya, the Institute of Aesthetic Studies now called Visual Arts, Iromie studied many forms of art and explored many aspects before finding her love for temple murals which was also a part of her studies. “After studying temple murals I broke away from the typical frieze style and converted them into my style under contemporary titles while keeping the line forms and costumes similar to the murals. I also brought out the dilapidated worn-out look that had formed around the murals into my paintings.”
Iromie has taken Sri Lanka worldwide through her paintings. In 1994 “The Royal Procession” was chosen by the Yugoslav government for a postage stamp, giving Iromie the distinction of being the first Sri Lankan artist to have
a painting of theirs depicted on a foreign stamp. In 1999, the Readers Digest chose “Musicians” to be on the back cover of the magazine. In 2006 she was the second woman to be elected chairperson of the jury panel of the Asian Art Biennale in Bangladesh. 2021 saw her being awarded the state honour of Kalabhushana.
As an artist, Iromie feels strongly that it is important to stay in one’s mother country. “It’s your country your culture,” she says. “That is what you can offer to the world and what will set you apart from the rest.” Having travelled and visited many galleries across many oceans, she says, “You go to a gallery not to copy someone else’s work, but to learn and be inspired by them,” emphasizing the importance of learning the subject to any aspiring artist.
And after 50 years, her painting is
very much part of her daily life. “I go everywhere with my sketchbook because I never know when I would be inspired by something I see. Be it waiting to pick up my daughter or being stuck in a traffic jam if it inspires me it will be on my sketchbook. So my sketchbook is my holy grail; I flip through the pages and start work on my actual painting till it reaches a point where I am delighted with the outcome.”
As a devoted wife and mother, Iromie is truly thankful for her support system at home without whom she could not have made it so far.
The exhibition “50 Years of Painting 1973-2023 - A Celebration of Women by Iromie Wijewardena” will be on from March 15-17 from 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. at the Harold Peiris Gallery of the Lionel Wendt.