The Youth Observer reached out to an up and coming contemporary artist beloved for her compelling large-scale paintings – Omali Radhika. Omali’s paintings delve into her own transformative journey.
Omali, who holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Printmaking from the University of Colombo. She works as an art teacher at the Mahinda Rajapaksha College, Homagama where she shares her artistic insights. Her artistic expressions extend to performance art, including roles in tele-dramas and movies. She has been in many fantastic cinema productions such as ‘flying fish. She is also a part-time TV presenter for children ‘ s programs on television.
Omali’s art often portrays expressive faces often subjected to some sort of restraining act, for example a heart shaped stone tied to her back. She draws inspiration from within herself to express her art.
Omali also had her first ever solo exhibition in Sri Lanka, ‘Fragments’, 19th 20th and 21st of January 2024 at the Lionel Wendt Art Centre.
Omali has been part of several performance art programs and collective exhibitions around the world over the years, including; Recycling Story International Fragments Art Festival – Gangneung Art Center – South Korea (2023), ASYAAF international art faia- Gallery LVS – South Korea (2023), THE SMALL -Theertha International Preparations Art Festival – Sri Lanka (2023), International recycling story – Gangneung Art Center South Korea (2021), Chilika Art sanctuary – International Folk and Trinal art exhibition – Odi Art Center – India (2020), Teertha International Performance Art Festival – Sri Lanka (2019), Recycling Story International Art festival-Gangneung Art Center – South Korea (2019), Woman Art exhibition – JDA Perera Art Center – Sri Lanka (2018).
In conversation with Omali, here’s what we found out:
Q: How did you enter the field of art?
A: I was always an artistic person but I made a conscious decision to stick to art when I joined the Arts Faculty in 2004. For me, art is not just a medium; it embodies my profound sense of freedom. I am now an art teacher and I am teaching that freedom to young minds.
Q: What do you expect from your art?
A: I expect my art to give me new life, new hope and new inspirations.
Q: Tell us about Fragments?
A: This is my first ever exhibition, I have done performance art and group exhibitions before but something to this scale never, and I was very excited about it. The Theme is like the name suggests fragments, fragments of memories. I have faced a lot of social, political and economic issues in life, varying from losing my parents to not having a place to live and these instances have shattered my life into pieces and I have picked up the fragments and put my life back together. So that is what this exhibition is about. Fragments of memories from my life.
Another specialty of Fragments is that I have used local art forms in my work and also incorporated several symbols.
Q: As an artist where do you draw inspiration?
A: I am inspired by myself, the environment around me, the people surrounding me and incidents that I face on a daily basis.
Q: How did you get into acting?
A: Acting is more like a hobby to me. I always liked it when I was a kid. I dreamed about being an actress. I got a chance to be part of stage dramas and some teledramas when I was in university and actually jumped at the opportunity. I actually went in search of these opportunities because I was so interested in it. I want to continue acting because it is very exciting to me.
Q: Speaking of acting, is there an actor or director you haven’t worked with so far that you would like to work with?
A: Yes, Asoka Handagama, I think he is a brilliant mind and I would love to be a part of his work.
Finally, Omali took a moment to thank everyone that supported her with her exhibition and with her art in general.
