Chandika Gunasekara’s endeavour to capture the vibes of Lanka

by Malinda Seneviratne

Chandika Gunasekara titled his first solo exhibition ‘Malini’. That was the name he gave his second solo exhibition as well. Malini, he said, is the name of his late grandmother. This

was his way of paying tribute to the one who had influenced him the most and encouraged him to strive for perfection, Amarathunga Mudalige Malini Lila.

‘She brought me up. She could draw. She drew excellent deva roopa (images of gods) and could make miniatures. Her husband, Chandika’s grandfather, a contemporary of S P Charles, was a well known artist in Matara. Hewapathirana Don Charles Dharmadasa, who passed away before Chandika was born, was a well known artist. In fact, Chandika still has a certificate issued by the Ceylon Society of Arts in 1931 to Dharmadasa for coming first in the “Landscape or Seascape” in Oil Painting’ category at the Society’s 37th annual exhibition.

‘From at least the 1940s, year after year, he would create the famous ‘Dharmadasa Thorana,’ a giant pandal outside the Dharmadasa Studio in Matara. There were no lights back then and the pandals weren’t as massive as the ones we see these days, but they were quite ornate and highly detailed. He used layers. His paintings could be described as localised expressions of classical European art styles. The themes draw from Buddhism but the European trace in style is unmistakable.’

‘It was my grandmother who taught me to take up a challenge. She always told me, “mokak hari ekak ivaretama karanna (do something, anything, to its very end).” So I even painted Mona Lisa with oil on a Kent paper! She was my first art critic. She had that taste for art and I always saw some value in whatever she said.’

Art always fascinated Chandika Gunasekara. He was so enamoured with art that he moved from the prestigious Rahula College, Matara, to the lesser known Matara Central College; the former didn’t teach the subject. He attributes this decision to the fearlessness she inculcated in him.

‘I chose Art, Geography and Sinhala for my ALs in 2001. I wanted to go to the Heywood Institute of Art, but my Z-Score was too low.’

Chandika didn’t give up. He enrolled in a class on traditional art offered by the National Apprentice and Industrial Training Authority (NAITA) and conducted by Kalasuri S P Charles.

‘First he tested lines. That’s they key to unlocking doors to traditional art. Charles Sir liked my work and encouraged me. It was almost like a university. We learned sculpture, screen printing, art history and there were even museum visits. It was during that time that I held my first solo exhibition, ‘Malini,’ at the National Art Gallery. Charles Sir opened the exhibition. It was an exploration of expressions, the human form.’

Chandika, who wouldn’t give up on dreams, sat for the ALs a second time in 2002. His preferred field had been architecture. He had also applied to the recently formed Design Department at Moratuwa University. The aptitude tests were held on the same day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. He didn’t make the cut for architecture, but this didn’t disappoint him — ‘I got to draw anyway!’ So, in 2003, after a year and a half under the tutelage of S P Charles, Chandika began pursuing undergraduate studies.

‘The Department was in its infancy. It was almost a test run. We were the fifth batch. However, we were given the opportunity to work with and learn from visiting lecturers like Ninel Fernando, Channa Daswatte and veteran artist G Wathuwalagedara. We were also taken to see the work of Ena de Silva and Barbara Sansoni.

‘Ninel Fernando knew about fashion and textiles. She gave us a project. We were asked to copy traditional temple paintings, something that had a design value. So we went to the Karagampitiya Subhodharama Temple. The extract was of the Siddhartha-Yasodhara wedding. The painting was typical of the low-country styles during the Kandyan Period. So it was highly detailed. I took it as a challenge. Since I had been trained by Charles, I managed to do it well.

‘On another occasion, she gave us a group project. We went to the National Museum where there’s a collection of Sri Lankan jewellery. I drew a silver pendant that was highly detailed. I made three drawings in fact and Ninel Fernando was very pleased. She commended me and said that I could go into jewellery design.’

The Design Department of Moratuwa University, at the time, offered courses in five disciplines, fashion, jewellery, ceramics, furniture and graphics. Chandika had set his mind on designing jewellery as a career. However, a friend had wanted to specialize in graphics and he wanted Chandika to join him. So he picked graphics over jewellery. This is how he entered the world of branding, package designing and 3D animation.

‘Even in graphics, we had to do figure drawing. There were art-related subjects such as sketching. We were taught by people like Chandragupta Thenuwara who focused on figure drawings and colour theory and Susiripala Malimboda who taught us experimental graphics.’

The students would often go to the Vibhavi Academy. Once, when he went there for a film festival that Boodee Keerthisena had organized, Chandika had realized that the Academy had a strong focus on art. After graduating from Moratuwa he would study figure drawing under Thenuwara, nature studies under Karunasiri Wijesinghe and scupture under Kelum Chandrasekera.

In 2005, Chandika held his second solo exhibition, this time at the Lionel Wendt. It was also titled ‘Malini.’

‘I used mixed medium. Focused on archaeological sites, still life, figure compositions. It was a better effort. Chandragupta told me to pick one thing, which is what eventually made me decided that I should study under him.’

He was in Colombo. He had expenses. So Chandika, even while pursuing his studies at Vibhavi, joined Copyline where he did the layout designs for Travel Sri Lanka. He also got an opportunity to work in Dubai in an advertising agency. However, after two years, he decided to return and rejoin Copyline as a senior designer.

‘It was a really challenging time. I joined “99 Design,” a global design platform, as a amateur graphic designer. Did some work for some clients. I had to learn how to pitch. My skills improved. I was selected as a top designer. That’s the highest level. Clients contact us directly. I did a few assignments and got good reviews. In some of the work I did, I incorporated Lankan styles, for example our elements such as the floral drawings of the Kandyan Period, but of course in a modern form.

‘I was featured in Abduzeedo, commonly referred to as “ABDZ,” one of the world’s largest creative network to showcase the work of artists, as well as other global platforms. I was very active. I was still in the top designer category. Clients came looking for me, but I picked only selected clients.’

After about two years of such engagements, Chandika decided that he should develop his style even further. He studied the philosophies and histories and drew from many sources and during the Covid pandemic experimented with Kandyan paintings and traditional classical art. He tried to interpret these in a modern way.

‘Since I had a graphic background, I use drawing tablets and tried to marry the digital with the hand-drawn — as a collage. First I sketch, then work on the collage and finally move to the digital form. I use new printing techniques and so it comes out in the form of screen printing on special archival paper.’

Tradition and all that is associated with it, including philosophical antecedents, seems to have always fascinated Chandika. For example, he created a series titled ‘Vibes of Taprobane,’ where he explores, experiments with and creates elaborations related to things Sri Lankan.

‘There’s one screen print titled ‘Panchakama Vila’ where I contend with the laukika (mundane or carnal), its consequences, and the lokoththara (spiritual or transcendental).’

He describes it as ‘Strings of sensuality.’ The screen-printed and hand-painted (on LANA Lanaquarelle paper) piece depicts objects of the five physical senses.

‘When the string of the lute are plucked, they give rise to pleasurable feelings or vedanaa.’

That series also includes two creations which are featured in the exhibition ‘Nihal Fernando: Journey and Legacy’ that was held at the Barefoot Gallery (January 31 to February 6, 2025), ‘Pidurangala Viharaya’ and ‘Labu Wel Kanda.’

Apparently, during the time he worked at Copyline, the photographs had been handled by Studio Times. So he got to work closely with Studio Times photographers and also Nihal Fernando’s daughter Anu.

‘This is how I got exposed to Nihal Fernando’s books and collections. The collection is amazingly diverse. I once asked Anu if there were photographs with symbolic value. She looked for and found. They were of temples, carvings for example. She helped me a lot. His books, especially ‘A Personal Odyssey’ and ‘Eloquence in Stone,’ taught me a lot about the jana jeevithaya [the lives, lifestyles of people] and exposed me to things I had not seen. It was around that time that I started on “Vibes of Taprobane.’ It involved a lot of study and Anu was the main supplier of sources. I also discovered Senaka Bandaranayake’s ‘Rock and Wall Paintings’ and the work of the photographer Gamini Jayasinghe who collaborated on this book. I realized I had enough sources. So I started merging.’

That is his passion, but there’s really no market for his work, Chandika observed: ‘art appreciation is at a very low level, but there’s always self satisfaction!’

It was Nihal Fernando’s son, Yohan Weerasuriya, who had told Chandika about the exhibition.

‘Yohan said that he wanted to feature artists, photographers and sculptors who had been inspired by his father. He didn’t force me though.

Chandika said that there’s a story in every creation; it’s not just a matter of gathering elements. And so he told the backstories of some of his submissions featured in the exhibition.

‘There was one of Nihal Fernando’s pictures depicting a woman bathing in a weva. It was a silhouette, but she was holding a bunch of flowers. It reminded me of the Sigiriya frescoes. King Kashyapa had two daughters, one was Bodhi and the other Uthpalavanna. It is said that the latter had eloped with a sculptor. She was dark and since the photograph was of a silhouette, I wanted to connect the two stories. So I researched. I read the verses on the ketapath pavura (the Mirror Wall) extolling the beauty of the women depicted in the frescoes.’

අ[ද]නෙ සිත ම කත මෙ මෙහි නො[මෙ] බිණි වි ද
තෙපුල් සිත අදනු බණ[නා] බන්දු [මහනෙල්] ගෙනැ ඇති හෙයින් බිණි වි ද
තෙපුල් සිත අදනු බණ

Though (she) did not speak a word, this damsel here attracts my mind
As she has taken water-lilies (in her hand), she attracts one’s mind as if she were speaking.

‘That’s one of several verses that spoke to me. I removed the diya-redda of the woman bathing in the weva and replaced it with silk. I placed Sigiriya and Pidurangala in the distance. They are blurred. I used a technique that Leonardo Da Vinci used. It’s called Sfumato Technique which creates soft transitions between colours and tones.

‘Distracted’ is a painting that features a drummer in the European vintage poster style from the 1950s and prominently used in Ceylon Travel posters. Chandika found the inspiration for this painting from one of Nihal Fernando’s photographs of a traditional drummer.

Chandika hasn’t exhibited much. Apart from the two ‘Malini’ exhibitions, he has been invited by the George Kent Foundation to submit to group exhibitions featuring emerging artists or nava kalaakaruwo.

He is a student. Not just of art and history, but Pali as well. He studies Pali under Prof Asanga Thilakaratne. ‘I want to learn about the Dhamma. I want to study the Tripitakaya,’ he said.

No doubt such ‘excursions’ will further enrich him and his art. One envisages that relevant elements or doctrinal nuances will complements history and tradition as they contend with and find common canvas with modern techniques. A distinct style must result. Regardless of the potential for decent remuneration, Chandika will be satisfied. He will relentlessly seek perfection and in this manner continue to honour the memory of exceptional photographers like Nihal Fernando and less known, nondescript and yet highly inspirational individuals like Amarathunga Mudalige Malini Lila.