Colomboscope 2024 Meet The Artists

01.Tell us a little about yourself?
02. Describe your work for Colomboscope 2024, its ties with the theme - Way of the Forest?
03. What’s the inspiration behind the work?
04. What is your signature style in your art? 
05. What are you looking forward to at Colomboscope and what do you hope people would take away from your work? 

The eighth edition of the interdisciplinary art festival Colomboscope will be held from 19-28 January across Colombo. Colomboscope “Way of the Forest” is shaped with over 40 Sri Lankan and international artists and collectives and is interwoven with a cross section of programmes, conversations, excursions, performances, workshops and other experiences. Colomboscope 2024  is curated by Hit Man Gurung, Sheelasha Rajbhandari and Sarker Protick together with artistic director Natasha Ginwala. 
Meet some of the artists for Way of the Forest as they talk to us about their work for the festival.  

Karunasiri Wijesinghe

I was born in an ancient village called Madhukumburumulla in Kuliyapitiya, in the Kurunegala district in 1957. The natural environment of this village and living close to nature had a big impact on me and my art from a very young age. I was keen on both music and art, but later chose visual art as my form of expression. After I completed my basic school education, I entered the Institute of Aesthetic Studies.

As I was deeply attached to and fascinated with natural habitats, I focused more on that in my work. The work of Laki Sensanayake influenced me greatly in developing my own style.

I’ve spent years of my life wandering through forests, observing the vegetation, the intricate details of that ecosystem, sketching and learning the nuances so I can bring it all out through my work. The theme “way of the forest” is nothing new to me. My work has always been about the “way of the forest”.

It’s a panoramic creation that tells the story of forest life. Story of trees and vines that live and die. Bringing out hidden messages the nature carries. Like the tender shoot that springs from a dead trunk of a fallen tree, portraying its desire to survive and live longer, the Nuga tree making itself more beautiful by covering itself in a shroud of its own, the Kumbuk tree standing tall like a warrior after facing a life time of harsh climatic conditions braving rain, hail or storm. It’s a portrayal of the life of the forest.

My signature style is intricate line work in black and white. I use a variety of lines to bring out the shapes, density, rhythm and textures I see. I believe my work is very detailed because I try to capture all the little things I notice.

I am sure it will be a novel experience to city dwellers. They would be able to see the forest in so many different facets and angles, through the eyes of local and foreign artists. My intention through my work was to create an understanding of the forest through art. To showcase the magnificence of nature. I hope and wish the viewers would gain more knowledge and understanding about the “Way of the forest” through this exhibition and that this will be a starting point for a dialogue between man and nature.

Tamara Jayasundera

I grew up spending half of my life in England and the other half in Sri Lanka, a mixed personality of the two, not fully belonging to either, but Sri Lanka has always felt like home. I’ve always been interested in the arts and have grown up with creatives. I don’t exactly look for inspiration but believe that I’m always surrounded by it through everything absorbed whether it’s people, or environment, there’s always some beauty to behold in the details of anything. I kind of paint the same as I did when I was 7 years old, not much has changed, except experimentation maybe. I’m sself-taught and I’ve learned through people that have been in my life or helped me along the way.

I think the work shows nature’s resilience and towering power, despite our repeated dismissiveness and eroding of it. I never really know when working with a piece, what it’s going to reveal to me. It’s always a surprise for me as I’m never working alone, I’m always using the natural to extend the work. I work with mycelium, and since forest communities communicate through mycelium’s complex structures underground, this exhibit is an extension from ‘Mycelium- reflections of I and I’.  

Peter Wohlleben’s Hidden Life of trees and the fantastic fungi documentary. I wanted to work with the idea of going back and forth between oxidising with acids, foods and mycelium liquid cultures and earth burials through 10 stages. I’ve never layered up more than 3 times on any pieces over the last 6 years. This leaves room for more experimentation and expression between stages, but it also takes the risk of ruining the piece and having to start over.

The body of work tends to be more associated with abstract expressionism, but always seems to have some connection to nature, through handmade tools, surroundings or natural curves. I work by means of meditation, mindfulness and dance as all practices are integral parts of my life. 

Seeing all the other artists work, the histories, the stories. And through the display of others work, to witness a sense of homage to the forests, and maybe ignite more restoration within us - A collective honouring. I would hope that ‘Criadora’ symbolises nature’s resilience despite our persistent and dismissive acts of erosion. Bringing forth the question of anthropocentrism and pushing on relatedness and ecocentrism.

Colomboscope 2024 will take place from 19 – 28 January. For more details and information on the lineup visit https://www.colomboscope.lk/