Saskia Fernando Gallery is pleased to announce the new online exhibition by Hashan Cooray titled 'Desire'. The works, created over the past twelve months, feature drawings and painting across the themes of love, pain, desire and existentialism. The body of work is dominated by abstract self-portraits; an attempt at introspection. Incorporating words referring to God-like beings as well as lewd terminology, the images and writing aims to aggravate the senses leading to a further questioning of one's own conformity. The mouthless face and other works are partly covered by his gestural paintings featuring the Cacti, a symbol of himself and the contradiction of the repelling nature of the plant combined with its nourishing interior. Instinctive, fluid strokes are used to create many of the portraits resulting in a black form that resembles the face; to the artist these are his darkest, most questionable moments. The works are created using charcoal, paint and brushes that he constructs himself with fine coir and long sticks. The three portraits represent the Holy Trinity, in continuity of the artists discussion and debate on the influences on conformity. Using the depth of blackness in parallel with writing and colour; he plays with combinations of the aesthetic to underline his narrative. Hashan's portraits are not mirror images; they are representations of the soul.
