EXPRESSIONS ’15 BY JAYANTHA SILVA
Putting your thoughts on to a canvas could be as complicated as the many strokes of a paintbrush. But for a passionate artist, that is his life. Having found an interest in art at a very young age, veteran artist Jayantha Silva continues to make his life busy, painting figurative art. Unlike abstract art, figurative art and portraits require more concentration. Jayantha’s paintings resemble life on a canvas. The various expressions – which is also the title of his exhibitions makes one admire his work without glancing through.
“My paintings were all about expressions and therefore my very first exhibition was named Expressions,” recalls Jayantha in an interview with Daily Mirror Life. “Ever since then, I continued calling all my exhibitions Expressions. This will be my 15th annual solo exhibition of figurative Art. This time’s exhibition comprises mostly of figurative art and portraits depicting smiles of Sri Lanka.”
Jayantha is known as a perfectionist who strives for excellence. He attributes his talent to his habit of actively looking at the environment everywhere he goes, and also to his photographic memory.
“Usually I take a break of a month after my last exhibition and proceed with my paintings. So it’s about eleven months work.” He feels that anyone can be a good artist, as long as they have good eyesight, muscle control, and the ability to observe and appreciate a subject. He enjoys doing paintings with charcoals, pastels and acrylics.
When asked about the modern trends and interest towards figurative art, Jayantha said that fifteen years ago it wasn’t very popular in Sri Lanka. “Back then people purchased art mainly for interior décor. However, now it’s a different scenario and I have seen upcoming artists who do figurative art and portraits.” Although art has now become more of a commercialised profession, Jayantha is one of the few artists who are still passionate about their work. But from then to now, times have changed and as opposed to the West, one can hardly make any money from a career as an artist.
He continued, “to be comfortable you have to go international. Once I met a Swedish artist who said that both of us have the equal amount of talent but the difference is that he’s rich and that I am in the wrong country.”
The preview of Expressions ’15 will be held on November 23, 2018 at 6.30pm. It will be open to the public on November 24 & 25 from 10.00am onwards at the Lionel Wendt.