Dileepa’s exploration of self on canvas ‘My Golden Line’

“I can see the truth in my face from ‘My Golden Line”, says artist Dileepa Jeewantha summarising his latest exhibition that has opened doors to the public. The artworks have reserved him a space on his canvas to talk about the truth. His expressions of happiness, doubt, anger, sadness have been projected on canvas and he says that it is up to the viewers to interpret his masterpieces. 

In a previous exhibition titled ‘My Faces’ Jeewantha drew himself to portray sensations, feelings and emotions in a person’s life. “We have to live in a fake world and the canvas is the only space I get to express myself. This is my face and my reality,” he further said. One may describe him as a narcissist as he chooses himself as the subject on canvas but for Jeewantha it doesn’t really matter how people would interpret or perceive his artworks. 

Hailing from Galle, he was initially trained in multidisciplinary design, graphic designing and other technical aspects of art. With a Higher National Diploma in Multidisciplinary Design, Diplomas in Graphic and Multimedia Design and certificate course in paintings from the Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts, Jeewantha was able to fine-tune the technical skills to make his childhood dream of becoming an artist, a reality. 

“Not all smiles show happiness and I can’t smile properly because I try to live the truth. I can’t be happy because I don’t have hopes but I want to laugh,” he said while explaining some of the artworks he has painted over a period of nine months. Jeewantha’s self portraits represent his introspective gaze, magnifying his ego to highlight a contradiction between reality and his own understanding of visual art.

‘My Golden Line’ will be on display till October 6, 2022 at the Paradise Road Galleries.