‘Regeneration’ an art exhibition presented by Shaanea Mendis D’silva at Barefoot Gallery features stunning and thought provoking pieces of art which captures art enthusiasts. Shaanea stepped into the world of art exhibitions through the exhibition ‘Cellscape’ in 2012. She says, Nature was the primary inspiration for her ‘Cellscape’ series in which patterns and intricate details of Nature were highlighted. “It was a childhood fascination to observe marks and patterns on barks of trees and veins of leaves,” recalls Shaanea. She says, art is both a hobby and a profession for her, and she is working hard to balance family life, motherhood and professional life as an artist.
Shaanea had her primary education at Ladies College, and did her Bachelor’s Degree in Art at Lassale College of Arts in Singapore. During her school days she had been bonded to work in Singapore after her graduation, so she couldn’t focus much on art since she was working as a fashion merchandiser in Singapore, Shaanea said. “Art is therapeutic and meditative. Observing fine marks in Nature is a meditative process. I would say it’s therapeutic. Lots of Japanese are interested in my work. There is the calmer, intricate lines and rust, all like a sudden burst of energy. There is calm, sort of a Zen meditative effect and an explosive effect. You could call it abstract”.
Talking about the objectives of her work Shaanea said that she deliberately wanted to make her artwork look organic and let it self evolve as it happens in Nature. Shaanea was inspired to start painting from a very early age and her mother was a great encouragement because she too was an enthusiast of art work. Shaanea fondly recalled her parents always provided encouragement for her and her brother to pursue what they liked for their career. She was delighted to receive immense support from the Barefoot Gallery to conduct her exhibition and from the Janatha Seva Sangh Trust in India.
Mentioning about the title ‘Regeneration’, Shaanea said, she wanted to bring out the idea of ‘decaying’, how the cities are regenerating and how we are moving towards urbanization in general, relating it to the deviations and the discriminations of power and status in society. She said, this title carries more of the idea of resettlement of the urban poor and the slum dwellers in Colombo in high rises which can be called vertical slums, where they face even more problems. Though the paintings do not seem to display some stories that can be read through many objects, according to Shaanea, they have so much to tell the audience.
Using pen, ink and gold plates, she has built the bigger structure of society on canvas and paper in a smaller scope. As she enthusiastically mentioned, the rust stains do always make her art from the ‘Regeneration’ lot different from that of the creations in ‘Cellscape’.
With the aim of coming up with this particular type of art, she has looked into things that deteriorate over time, such as, old walls. Also from the dark colours, such as, black and brown, Shaanea has made an outstanding effort to voice a sensitive and strong message with the strength of her imagination that has burst out from her fingertips.
What’s particular about Shaanea’s paintings is that they do not follow a specific genre. When asked whether these paintings belong to a certain category, Shaanea said, “Well, I think I fall into the category of temporary art scene. But, I think it’s up to the audience to decide what makes it different”.
The gold plates and the rusted nails in her paintings represent the greed for power, wealth and the gold acrylic contribute to the larger picture. She has made leaves out of gold plates and used it as a social commentary. Talking about the black and white fine lines, Shaanea said, these lines represent the masses and the process itself is more time consuming.
Shaanea’s art exhibitions ‘Cellscape’ and ‘Regeneration’ portray life and society in some sort of transformation from Nature and colour to decay and to the darker side. Shaanea’s artwork is available for sale for art enthusiasts out there.