A distinct character in the world of art-BY NIROSHA RAJAPAKSE 

Source:Sundayobserver

Chathuranga Gamage is invariably an artist by virtue. Art is undoubtedly at the core of his life and his art exhibition titled “Landescape” held from January, 14 to 16 at the Lionel Wendt is the manifestation of his tremendous artistic skills.

Chathuranga understands that painting is an ancient medium. It still remains as a persistent mode of expression even amidst the influence, posed by the introduction of photography, film and digital technology. Chathuranga is an incredible artist who is motivated by his passion for art, rather than by external rewards. Any vivid and close observer of his paintings would understand that he has got the courage to pursue his artistic passion and dreams while fearlessly being prepared to take up with calculated risks.

Fresh

Every day, he evolves with fresh, novel and innovative ideas. He often views his amazing creativity as an abundant source. Chathuranga has got a knack of manifesting his artistic vision onto canvas and his professional dreams into reality.

Commenting on his style of art and as to how he approaches with it, he remarked “As an expressionist, I try to bridge the gap between the creator and the creation. To do this, I remove myself from the art, so it becomes ownerless. But I stay present with it, so I am able to express myself clearly”.

His comments on the matter of the completion of his masterpieces are exceptionally remarkable where he said: “It’s not the destination that’s important. It’s the road…..the process. In this process, I make mistakes and these mistakes tell me again that I’m just being human. In a sense, it’s the process that keeps me and my vision alive.

The feeling of completeness lies somewhere in between this journey”.While Chathuranga calls himself an expressionist, he points out that mediums are irrelevant to him undoubtedly he is inspired by anything and everything around him. “I’ll use bespoke tissues, toothpaste, cement bags, cement, and safety helmets…..anything that inspires me in the moment” Chathuranga said.

Ocean

The Ceylon Society of Arts is the place where Chathuranga learnt the initials in the ocean of art and at the tender age of 18, he found himself exploring his potential in the wide, ubiquitous and competitive world of advertising. Whilst his wealth of experience span into 10 years, his professionalism in advertising and illustration take the center stage.

His paintings are phenomenal with distinctive characteristics: no hyperbole is visible in declaring that his paintings are worth a thousand words.

Fear to make changes, assuming that mistakes happening in the process would jeopardise the continuity of the piece of work can generally be considered as one of the most crippling emotions felt by an artist. But, in contrast, it is rather interesting and encouraging to see that Chathuranga demonstrates no fear whatsoever in making changes into his art work where he notes that he makes mistakes and the very same mistakes convince him that he is just an ordinary human being.

Any close observer of Chathuranga’s painting would lavishly comment that he has an abundance of creativity which some artists unfortunately do not possess, albeit creativity is undoubtedly the fundamental characteristic of an artist.

Most of Chathuranga’s paintings bear testimony to the fact that he is a thorough observer of the objects around him. Being a capable illustrator, it is noticed that he makes it a point where he gives birth to a masterpiece with everything that he looks at, hears, tastes, touches or smells: the exceptional approach that he has taken towards the paintings, resembling the safely helmets, worn at construction sites demonstrates his intrinsic knack of creating an outstanding masterpiece out of his sheer observation around his immediate vicinity.

Original

It is popularly said that artists are innovators and hence, they stand as problem solvers. In that light, Chathuranga while simultaneously being both an artist and an expressionist knows the unique style of getting adapted to the existing circumstances and creating original solutions that can eventually result in a unique masterpiece.

The standard approaches, innovative techniques and the frequently done experiments on the aspect of novel masterpieces are his synonyms.

The school of thought that Chathuranga promotes with regard to one’s ability of being an artist is an inspiration for anybody who is discouraged by their own assumption of the fact that skill makes an artist. Chathuranga said that everything that you come across is an art and everyone has got the potential to be an artist.

It is rather remarkable to see that Chathuranga’s utilisation of colour in his paintings are rather outstanding and he has his own unique way of painting his pictures and this absolutely incredible way of using colour makes his paintings vibrant, dramatic, stark and tranquil.

Chathuranga needs only a few tools to paint.As he paints he has a vision in his mind. He smartly paints the stories that cannot be narrated in words. He paints neither dreams nor nightmares. Instead, his own reality is painted.

Pablo Picasso said “some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot. Others transform a yellow spot into the sun”.

Confident

Chathuranga’s artistic intellectualism undoubtedly justifies Picasso’s declaration. He does not compromise with his charisma of painting where he is confident that he has trained not only his eye but also his soul on the aspect of painting excellence. He shuns the idea that painting from nature is exactly copying the object in contrast he believes that painting is realising one’s sensations.

The accomplished and versatile illustrator, artist and expressionist living within the soul of Chathuranga Gamage is invested with a tremendous potential of being one of the most sought after personalities in the world of art not only in the pearl of the Indian Ocean but also in the far distant places across the world.