In a world where technology is rapidly changing, where buildings and structures come and go, it’s easy to forget the significance of the walls that stand the test of time. Walls often perceived as simply a physical boundary, serve as a reflection of the past, silently holding onto stories and memories of events and people long gone. This is what inspired artist Nalin Indrasena to embark on his latest exhibition, Talking Walls II, the second installment of his Talking Walls series.
Through his artwork, Nalin hopes to remind us of the depth and beauty that lies beneath the surface of these walls. His paintings, created using a combination of oil paint, cold wax, and mixed media, offer a glimpse into the fragility and history of these structures, revealing the layers of hidden stories and emotions that they hold. 
Nalin eloquently captures this idea and translates it into his artist’s note beautifully. He said, “Talking Walls bring history, stories, anguish, and splendor, a touch of creation, destruction, rebirth, and wonder. Every step we make, history recalls. Chronicles were born behind talking walls.”
Obsession behind walls
Drawing from his experiences travelling and working for the United Nations in hardship locations, the artist’s fascination with historical places and monuments shines through in each piece. By selectively reducing the surface of his paintings, he evokes a sense of depth and history, encouraging viewers to connect with their past impressions and emotions.
“I have always been fascinated by the historical places and monuments I have seen in countries around the world during my travels while working for the United Nations. I was curious to learn about the cultures surrounding such places and the unspoken stories told through decayed or beaten-up walls through weathering over time.”
“The transformation of these walls due to decay and the destruction of surfaces over the centuries inspired me to express my emotional response toward them through my paintings,” Indrasena said.
Indrasena’s fascination with the beauty of weathered and damaged walls began during his travels to countries such as Angola, Rwanda, Sarajevo, Iraq, and Lebanon. These places had been affected by war, conflict and other forms of destruction, leaving their walls and ruins with layers of memories and hidden stories. For Indrasena, these walls became a canvas for his emotional response, a way to express the profound beauty and depth that lies within the layers of the past.
“It came to my mind that there is an incredible side to the transformation of places over time such that with every generation and evolving culture that passed, they leave behind layers of memories, and hidden stories on the walls. I observed that there is profound beauty and depth in those layers that if we could just scratch the surface beneath, we could uncover and reveal intriguing ‘golden’ periods of the past that once existed,” he said.
“As I reminisced over the collection of photographs and notes I took during my travels, I was convinced that the walls could talk, and their hidden messages are rich and luminous,” he said.
Gruelling process
Indrasena exclusively uses cold wax mixed with oil paint as his medium, together with pan pastels, oil pastels, and marble dust. The creative process involves layering the surface with 30 to 40 layers, some tactile and others visual and subtle. The layers are then selectively reduced to reveal hidden layers, creating depth and history that evoke a sense of fragility.
“I undergo a challenging period with my work, creating and destroying additional layers during the process to create depth and history, to evoke a sense of fragility by quietening down some loud impressions and noise of the painting until the work reaches the emotional expression I am seeking.”
“Throughout the painting process, I’m looking for the integration of form and content using a blend of techniques: layering, scraping, creating specific marks, and then covering them over. Multiple iterations of this process lead to richer and more complex surfaces.
By the time the painting is complete, I feel that I have transformed my energies into those layers. Whether they are revealing or effectively hidden, they have stories to tell,” Indrasena said. 
Indrasena hopes that viewers will connect with his artwork and the hidden stories within the walls. He believes that everyone has memories of places that they may have found fascinating and that the paintings will evoke curiosity and encourage viewers to relate the paintings to their own experiences.
For Indrasena, the use of cold-wax and oil mediums contributes to the emotional depth of his paintings, allowing him to create unique texture and translucency that give depth and evoke an emotional impression.
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| Guests at the preview |
“Cold is a soft paste of beeswax, mineral spirits, and resin mixed in certain proportions. Though cold wax was used in ancient times, the process was not widely known among many artists. Ready-made cold wax is produced mainly by Gamblin or Dolan in the USA.
Cold wax helps shorten the drying time, creates unique textures, and produces translucency among many other qualities. With cold wax and oil paint, multiple layers are commonly used only to scrape back to reveal previous layers in some areas of the surface to create textures and form. It is important for me to create a sense of curiosity, tensions in my paintings, and create extreme surface textures that give depth and evoke an emotional impression,” he said.
The title ‘Talking Walls’ conveys the idea that if walls could talk, they would have many stories to tell. The gouges, crevices, and anomalies on the surface of ruins provide clues to the stories of the past.
Indrasena’s paintings bring history, stories, anguish, and splendour to life, reflecting the creation, destruction, rebirth and wonder that lie within the walls.
Passion for photography
“I never thought that during the periods while I was working and travelling in these places, that one day, I will be painting about them. It was only when I started painting. It became
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| Artist Fabienne Francotte and Nalin Indrasena |
apparent that similar themes and impressions often appear in my paintings. As I have had a passion for photography throughout my life, going through the many pictures I have taken, they give similar impressions as well.
My wife, Celine, who is an art critic made me realise that when one looks closely at the recurring themes of paintings, it would be the best way to express my experience,” he added.
Indrasena’s hope for this series is to create a sufficiently intriguing environment for the viewer to ponder upon and evoke inner thoughts. Each person experiences the surfaces and related stories differently, making the journey an open-ended one for the viewer to fill in their own stories through their personal experiences and knowledge.
Talking Walls II is not only an exhibition of artwork but a testament to the significance of walls and their ability to communicate stories of our shared past. It’s an invitation to take a step back and listen to the silent messages conveyed by these walls, to appreciate the beauty of their decay and transformation over time, and to understand the layers of history that they hold within.
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| Tun Lai and Dominic Sansoni |