Nature's positive samaritan

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Nature’s positive samaritan

Sri Lankan Senaka Senanayake infuses spirituality and activism in his art.

Express Features Service

IF you ask Sri Lankan artist Senaka Senanayake about the rainforests in his

country, he enters a world of crimson ferns and colourful butterflies known as

floaters because they don’t ‘‘flap their wings, they just

float’’. It’s the inspiration for his latest rainforest

series The Forests of the Mahabharata, at the Museum Gallery, Kala Ghoda till

July 3.

‘‘In the morning, it’s misty like fairy tales. It’s

amazing to see the colours of the forest change through the year. Such beauty

does exist, it’s not my make belief,’’ says Senanayake,

adding that nature has always been associated with mythology. Curator Sharon

Apparao has put together 15 works from late artist Reddappa Naidu’s

Mahabharata series, together with contrasting styles of Senanayake’s 18

new works based on the rainforests in the Mahabharata to reflect the contrasts

and universality in the great epic. For Senanayake, the exploration of

rainforests goes beyond his exhibition. ‘‘It is a vicious cycle,

with our (Sri Lankan) forests shrinking. The World Bank gives our government

money to plant North American trees, which are not suited to the Sri Lankan

environment. This only deepens the imbalance in nature,’’ says

Senanayake, who has been painting solely on the themes of nature and the

environment for the past 15 years. Yet, his paintings only portray the vibrant

colours and the beauty of these forests. Being a staunch follower of Satya

Saibaba, he chooses to focus on the positive aspects of life. Thus, by

portraying the beauty of the rainforests, he believes he will reach out to more

people, and make them realise what our present and future generations are

missing out on. Drawing his inspiration from Sri Lankan rainforests for his

work, he says that he has only recently jumped onto the wagon to save the

rainforests in Sri Lanka. ‘‘We are all responsible for nature, and

through this exhibition I am just doing my bit to spread awareness in our

sub-continent.’’

 

Source : http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=136579