Shades of blue that soothe
Tanya Warnakulasuriya reviews Channa Ekanayake’s current exhibition ‘Silence of the Blues’ at Barefoot
One would have thought Christmas had come early as Barefoot gave us a pre-yuletide treat in mid November with ‘Silence of The Blue’, Channa Ekanayake’s first solo exhibition since 2001, when his exhibition ‘Dwellings’ was at the Lionel Wendt Arts Centre.
Starting his artistic journey in 1997, Channa was apprenticed to Croatian artist Dora Tomulic. He has participated in many international residences and collective exhibitions over the years and been commissioned to do works for various hotels and corporates in Sri Lanka.
Unlike his artistic mentor, Tomulic, whose vibrantly explosive works are a comprehensive study of the Theory of Chaos, Channa’s work is interestingly juxtaposed to his teacher’s. His works are a study of ‘calm’ through the contemporising of ancient Buddhist murals in an abstract modern style.
As you wander through his works, the soothing calm they elicit is palpable. They demonstrate beautifully the long-held knowledge that artists have always known, and that science is only now catching-on to – the power of colour to heal, restore and balance.
I learned that to create these works, Channa had worked with a particular shade of blue that is traditionally mixed into the whitewash used to paint Buddhist temples. It is because of this blue being added that we are able to gaze at the brilliant white stupas, statues and temple edifices without hurting our eyes with the glare. Thus, it is with Channa’s work, we are soothed in a most divine way.
The exhibition is made up of different sets of work, but each series is linked to the last by Channa’s expert use of this most peaceful Cerulean blue – a shade that ranges between azure and the darker sky blue. The work climaxes in a powerful geometric oil abstract entitled Silence of The Blue, from which the exhibition takes its name. What I particularly love about Channa’s work is that he does not stereotype his use of the colour. Blue is not just for seas and skies! It is the space in which the whole canvas is engulfed and upon which the artist then layers his narrative and subjects. Blue lies beneath the white walls and the terracotta tiles of the buildings he paints. It is in the invisible breeze that rustles tied back curtains and orange prayer flags exuding the calmness of the colour without his viewers even realising it. There is way more blue in these pictures than you think!
I find his Ancient Boat series – the one where you would expect to see lots of blue – particularly fascinating because conversely, it has very little. Instead, muted greys and rosy browns dominate the images of masted boats on nebulous seas. The blue is certainly there, but these boats do not seem to be depictions of ones that sailed actual seas. They seem to be drawings of drawings – egg tempera images of ancient cave drawings, etched into rock faces a millennia ago. Perhaps they were eyewitness descriptions from our earliest civilisations encountering these strange contraptions on their shores for the first time. Unlike Channa’s other images that are gentle dreamscapes, these canvases have the hard starkness of a rock face with a hint of menacing red, suggesting possible invasion or strange disruption.
The Girl from the Sea is the one series where the blue of the sea and the yellow of the sand are easily identifiable. But here, it is the situation of the woman that is of interest. In both paintings she seems to be contained by the sea rather than to be outside of it. Rather than sitting on the sand and watching the waves, she is bound by a very definite blue body that she looks away from. She isn’t looking at the sea, she is a part of it. She languishes within it, only connecting with the yellow sand for a while.
Other than the Girl from the Sea, the rest of the exhibition continues Channa’s inclination to challenge our associations of colour. The Bodhi
Series is a case in point.
The normal warm spice colours of saffron-orange and mustard-yellow that are usually synonymous with Buddhist art have been exchanged in the Bodhi Series for the somewhat ‘cooler’ dare I say, European hues of white and blue. At first glance one would think that the Bodhi Series were seascapes of white villas overlooking the azure seas of the Greek Islands or perhaps Italy’s Positano coastline, but they are most certainly not.
Channa’s Bodhi series speaks more to his naturist’s interests than his Buddhist ones which are subtly evident. You won’t see any Buddhas in repose here. Instead, the presence of the Buddha is quietly intimated by the artist through the sacred geometry of the triangular embrasures and the undulating coping that in this country we automatically associate with temple walls. It’s hinted at through a single lotus flower (the symbol of enlightenment) or the trim of prayer flags adorning the Bodhi tree (under which the Buddha attained enlightenment) with its all too familiar delicate, heartshaped leaves. There is something deeply engaging in all the pictures which convey a feeling of serene beatitude. They immediately bring a stillness to the viewer – that reverent silence that automatically descends when you enter a place of worship. Perhaps this is the Silence of The Blue that Channa alludes to.
The exhibition really is a ‘must see’ and is the perfect respite from the madness of Christmas shopping. It’s on in the main gallery of Barefoot until December 11 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.
Enjoy!