Lightlines: Kavan Balasuriya

Kavan Balasuriya’s Lightlines is a collection of drawings and engravings made with ink and aluminium foil. He presents geometric abstractions inspired by architecture, textiles and organic compositions created by tracing the foil surface. In examining the novel,spatial and even emotive qualities of the foil, he explores the potential of static objects functioning as embodied experiences. This perceptual and spatial exchange points to foundational themes in Kavan’s work: light and shadow, presence and absence, fact and fiction, abstraction and realism. Through his drawing practice, he engages in a dialogue between maker and material.Lightlines draws inspiration from approaches to materials used in brutalist and vernac-ular architecture. In addition, Kavan engages with the classical idea that architecture is an experience centred around movement. He explores this notion with his experiments in drawing, engraving and etching on aluminium foil. The resulting compositions involve engraving the foil surface to create a transient visual effect. Finally, he presents a series of pictures ranging from playful geometric abstractions to natural arrangements based on the textures of the foil to illustrate the different ways of working with the material.The perceptual insights from this practice inform his ink drawings as they reflect his growing understanding of the dynamic shared between vision and expression.The artist notes that our planet is now more artificial than biological by mass. Every material, object and structure produced by humankind outweighs the total weight of every living and natural biomass on Earth. He believes that using materials outside the traditional sphere of art may facilitate an understanding of the synthetic landscapes we now inhabit. Furthermore, Kavan argues that alternative materials effectively explore the boundaries of conventional art practices. In the age of readily available art and design created by artificial intelligence, he looks at traditional art-making genres like drawing and draughtsmanship. Here, he reflects on the neurological changes we, as organisms, undergo and evolve alongside the omnipresent technologies in our envi-ronment.