Shaveen Jeewandara
Raja Segar would walk to school every day a fish bun in his hand, revelling at its triangular goodness, his eyes drawn to the unadorned beauty of the simple shape. Segar would happily chomp it down once the admiration wore off, but little did he know that simple geometric shapes would one day define him as an artist.
“That was my first love with geometric shapes,” says Segar. Today, the streaks of white on his beard tell of a man who has been in the profession for a long time and whose art has matured like fine wine. Geometric cubism is his forte. He has just launched his self-titled autobiography and with an exhibition opening today is ready for a fresh public appraisal of his work.
“This book has been in the pipeline for the past ten years,” says Segar, adding that he was sent from pillar to post in pursuit of a printer. “I had to do the dummy myself and eventually found a printer in China.”
The hefty coffee table book is packed with his works and tells Segar’s story in a personal unadulterated writing style.
The first painting by Segar as a child, was that of a Billing tree being ravished by colourful parrots. He got some money from his grandfather and framed the painting. His mother would later discover it behind a cupboard and be furious that Segar wasted money on framing it - this put a temporary halt to his art.
Many years later, a personal incident would push Segar into painting. “My first serious work of art was drawn out of frustration,” says Segar. “The family had to move from our residence in Colombo 3 (the current location of Liberty Plaza) to the Maligawatte flats owing to road development, and this infuriated me.” The promised compensation never came their way and Segar took out his frustration on canvas, as he painted the ‘Housing Scheme’. The painting done in 1979 -the year they lost the house- shows Segar’s unique blend of geometric shapes strewn across the canvas, the vibrant colour bringing out his emotions.
Eastern influences are ingrained in his work. Scattered across his personal gallery at the lower lobby of the Cinnamon Lakeside hotel are paintings of Lord Ganesh, Hindu weddings, a herd of stallions and many that depict strong emotions. Segar’s paintings do not require a third eye to see their beauty; they are direct and approachable. “Each painter has his own style and I have mine. I believe that no one is qualified enough to judge a painting. It is a dialogue between the artist and the paint and how can another person judge it?” By the age of 20, Segar had a job at Ceylon Cold Stores. His stint there would be abruptly cut short due to a reason that he is still not fully aware of, but Segar believes that it was a transition from “hell to heaven”. He prospered soon after as he went full-time into painting and creating greeting cards.
It was a Ms. Senanayake who urged Segar to put his cards up for sale at the bookshop at the Oberoi Hotel (now Cinnamon Grand). “A week later I visited