Saskia Fernando Gallery
Skip to main content
  • Menu
  • Artists
  • Exhibitions
  • Viewing Rooms
  • Channel
  • Fairs
  • News
  • Press
  • Profiles
  • About
  • Contact
Menu

Sutra : Nuwan Nalaka

Past exhibition
12 - 26 October 2017
  • Overview
  • Installation Views
  • Press release
  • Channel
Overview
Sutra , Nuwan Nalaka

The Lotus Sutra, a scripture that is often considered to be one of the most important in the path to enlightment, teaches how even deluded people will follow this path. The lotus symbolizes the bodhisattva who is rooted in the earthly mud and yet flowers above the water in the open air of enlightenment.


My works incorporate the themes of nature, architecture, Buddhist philosophy and Hindu mythology. I choose to narrate a conceptual meditative sensation by using imagery combined that translates the vernacular of this island. Rather than document contemporary issues my work seeks a deeper understanding and reality of social and cultural norms. I use a limited colour palate in my paintings, mostly black and white; this is done to strip down to bare essentials.

 

The symbol of the lotus itself represents calm and peace. The visual outcome of this depiction is this representation in itself. From impressionist Monet, to Fare-Eastern Calligraphic brush painting and classical representation in Ajanta, Pala and Jain manuscripts as well as Indian miniature painting. The profound use of the image worldwide as well as in Sri Lanka implicates its symbolic power. These are the characteristics that inspired me as an artist to explore the theme and teachings to further understand how my work can create a sense of relief amidst the turmoil we know.

  

View the E - Catalogue 

Share
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Email
Installation Views
  • Nn1
  • Nn2
  • Nn3
  • Nn4
  • Nn5
  • Nn6
Close
Press release

SUTRA BY NUWAN NALAKA

 

12.10.17 – 26.10.17

Preview 12.10.17 at 6.00pm- 8.00pm

 

Saskia Fernando Gallery is pleased to present Sutra  by Nuwan Nalaka, an exhibition of recent work. Largely   featuring   paintings—this   exhibition   will   explore   both   the   aesthetic   and   philosophical dimensions of spirituality and enlightenment in Nuwan Nalaka’s paintings made in 2017.

 

Nuwan Nalaka’s compelling works float between the temporal and the spiritual, remaining in neither. Instead they are always on the move—always becoming. Every painting carries a visible or invisible destination,  suggesting  a grand ending—be  it in the sky, behind a mountain,  or a in a mystic form lurking through a thicket. The artist has created resonant  compositions  that threaten  to swallow the viewer whole, into an eternal landscape of blacks, and whites with complex interactions of motifs and symbols that will reward sustained looking. In depicting a timeless moment of seeking and traveling; these works present  the viewer with the agency  to pause,  reflect and decide,  thereby  exercising  a sense of responsibility  for the path they wish to take. In bringing these works together this exhibition will afford an opportunity to experience Nuwan Nalaka as an artist, but more importantly as a spiritual cartographer.

.

Nuwan  Nalaka  is an emerging  artist in Sri Lanka  who is better known  for his watercolor  on paper works that the artist presented in solo exhibitions in Colombo, Galle and Kandy, prior to his departure to India. Nalaka has also participated in numerous shows in India since 2003. The artist is back after having completed his Masters in Fine Art at the Rabindra Bharati University in Kolkata, India. Of his time in India, Nalaka says, "This was an experience that was one of the most important for me to-date, moving from my native land to interact and understand modern Indian culture. Over the past decade I lived  in  an  atmosphere  where  religion  and  culture  differed  greatly  from  Sri  Lanka."  These  cross- boundary experiences  have had a profound impact on his recent work. Sutra  by  Nuwan  Nalaka is

free and open to the public from  12th  October till the 26th  October 2017.

 

Artist’s Statement

The Lotus Sutra, a scripture that is often considered to be one of the most important in the path to enlightenment,  teaches  how  even  deluded  people  will  follow  this  path.  The  lotus  symbolizes  the bodhisattva who is rooted in the earthly mud and yet flowers above the water in the open air of enlightenment.

 

My works incorporate the themes of nature, architecture, Buddhist philosophy and Hindu mythology. I choose to narrate a conceptual meditative sensation by using imagery combined that translates the vernacular of this island. Rather than document contemporary issues my work seeks a deeper understanding  and reality of social and cultural norms. I use a limited colour palate in my paintings, mostly black and white; this is done to strip down to bare essentials.

 

The symbol of the lotus itself represents calm and peace. The visual outcome of this depiction is this representation in itself. From impressionist Monet, to Fare-Eastern Calligraphic brush painting and classical representation in Ajanta, Pala and Jain manuscripts as well as Indian miniature painting. The profound use of the image worldwide as well as in Sri Lanka implicates its symbolic power.  These are the characteristics that inspired me as an artist to explore the theme and teachings to further understand how my work can create a sense of relief amidst the turmoil we know.

Channel
  • Kalaa Kathaa Previews

    Kalaa Kathaa Previews

    Nuwan Nalaka Nuwan Nalaka is an emerging artist in Sri Lanka who is better known for his watercolor on paper works that the artist presented in solo exhibitions in Colombo, Galle and... Read more

Related artist

  • Nuwan Nalaka

    Nuwan Nalaka

Back to exhibitions
Manage cookies
Copyright © 2023 Saskia Fernando Gallery
Site by Artlogic
Facebook, opens in a new tab.
Instagram, opens in a new tab.
Send an email

This website uses cookies
This site uses cookies to help make it more useful to you. Please contact us to find out more about our Cookie Policy.

Manage cookies
Accept

Cookie preferences

Check the boxes for the cookie categories you allow our site to use

Cookie options
Required for the website to function and cannot be disabled.
Improve your experience on the website by storing choices you make about how it should function.
Allow us to collect anonymous usage data in order to improve the experience on our website.
Allow us to identify our visitors so that we can offer personalised, targeted marketing.
Save preferences
Close

Join our mailing list

Signup

* denotes required fields

We will process the personal data you have supplied in accordance with our privacy policy (available on request). You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails.