Elsewhere: Sandatharaka Abeysinghe

‘Elsewhere’ imagines a surreal realm submerged beneath water, where terrestrial flora has evolved into towering giants, creating a haven for a forgotten civilisation. Inspired by Ilya Repin’s Sadko, Sandatharaka Abeysinghe envisions an underwater world where a city that vanished in a deluge continues to thrive in the present day, hidden from the world above.

In ‘Elsewhere’, the artist explores new visual trajectories, experimenting with oil paints to create a hyper-realistic, scintillating world brimming with tropical colours. Abeysinghe demonstrates a remarkable command of oil paints, utilising their inherent properties and versatility to create immersive visuals. The indiscernible softness of petals and stems and the animated movements of flora and fauna in Abeysinghe’s visuals are achieved through the interplay of depth and texture, inviting the viewer to experience tactility through sight alone. A subtle manipulation of light amplifies this sensory engagement as the soft illumination and ethereal glow enhances the otherworldly quality of the underwater scape. Abeysinghe conjures a realm of wonder, where the natural world is rendered with precision and imbued with a sense of the sublime.

Succulents native to deserts, lotuses and birds of paradise from tropical Southeast Asia, and temperate hydrangeas coexist in a realm where spatiotemporal principles are transformed, allowing diverse ecosystems to braid into one another as they welcome entities typically deemed foreign. Here, the colours of the terrestrial world are illuminated by the protective embrace of the water. The vegetation sways with underwater currents, creating a rhythm that guides the viewer through the artist's imagined world, reflecting the new realities that emerge as our imagination expands in an increasingly globalised context. 

The artist’s process begins with preliminary sketches and images created using a combination of generative AI, digital technology and still-life images. The final compositions brought to life on canvas are influenced by the rural traditions and folklore of the artist’s upbringing, informing an artistic practice that contends with the relentless advance of modernity and its encroachment on rural existence. In his work Abeysinghe contemplates the possibility of mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence as he depicts the complex relationship between human life and the natural realm. 

Abeysinghe presents a romanticised interpretation of Sri Lankan culture and history, that simultaneously is removed and transcended from the rigid categories of modernity. The artist offers neither commentary nor criticism, choosing to accept development as a necessary element of contemporary society within his romanticised view of the past. The reality of the artist’s imagined world ceases to be anthropocentric as human life becomes diminutive against the backdrop of megaflora and megafauna. As the natural equilibrium shifts, nature and humanity strive for symbiotic coexistence. Abeysinghe presents a realm within which boundaries blur and ecosystems integrate, underscoring the multiple avenues of connection and understanding in our globalised world.