The lotus blooms as a symbol of all that’s natural

‘Loti & the Moon’ is the title of an exhibition by young artist Kasun Manoj at Art Soace Sri Lanka. Ten new works by Manoj, who completed his education in Visual Arts at the University of Visual and Performing Arts in Colombo are on display.

The lotus figures prominently in his work. The artist uses burnt sienna acrylic paint on top of sack kraft papers to construct the first layer of the muddy waters. “Using black ink and white acrylic I worked onto this base. The final details are applied using pencil, charcoal and pastel,” he says explaining the process.

“The lotus is a symbol of revival; it symbolizes fortune, peace, knowledge and prosperity and I use it as a symbol of the natural world. I constructed the images using different mediums including paper cuts from newspaper advertisements, marriage proposals and job vacancies to highlight the contrast between the natural and material worlds. It is my personal belief that our consumption is to blame for the failure of human connections; this draws me to want to connect even more with the natural world through my artistic practice,” he says.

Loti & the Moon, by Kasun Manoj is on till December 6 at Art Space Sri Lanka, 41 Horton Place, Colombo 7 from 10 a.m.

to 6 p.m.