‘Vikara and Visions’ at the Wendt

• An exhibition of pen drawings and digital art by Nuwan Shilpa Hennayake

Nuwan Shilpa Hennayake’s journey in art flourished just four years ago, while he was reading for his Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture in USA. Inspired by his life experiences Nuwan will present an exhibition of pen drawings and digital art on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 September at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Though he was inclined towards painting and drawing as a kid, he only partook in it as a pastime. “This eventually grew into a full-time pre-occupation at which point I made a decision to drop out of university and pursue art in accordance with my disposition,” Nuwan adds.

Nuwan believes that art has allowed him to visually express the way he understood his life experiences and gain insight into the nature of his temperament. “Art for me is a discipline for mental development, and the closest I would come to consider as devotional,” Nuwan explained.

Influenced by visionary, psychedelic, and shamanistic art of renowned artists; Alex Grey, Pablo Amaringo, Amanda Sage, Ernst Fuchs and Android Jones to name a few: Nuwan confirms that his biggest influence is music. Good music always motivates me to make art. Music plays a central role in my life and I think that its impact has naturally has made its way into my work. My thinking is also influenced by works on philosophy, psychology and other social sciences

The artwork in ‘Vikara and Visions’ is the cumulative effort of the last two and a half years. Nuwan presents two themes during this exhibition: ‘Vikara’ deals with theme of transformation. The title itself is taken from the Sanskrit word for transformation/change. “Observing how ignorant we are of the consequences of our actions of planetary toxification and destruction, a sane future is to be considered, healing this collective psychosis. The first step of this process is a diagnosis. Through this body of work, I explore my contribution to the collective psychosis as reflected in my own predicament.”

The series ‘Visions’ is a set of photo manipulation experiments. The theme for this body of work is patterns. Fascinated how the world exhibits pattern, at every level, macro and micro. It is not just a phenomenon of physicality and form, but one that extends into the realm of the mind and thought. The patterning of thought can be visualised into forms. ‘Visions’ is an expression of this aesthetic.

For further information, you could contact Nuwan through facebook.com/nuwanshilpa Instagram @nuwan_shilpa or email him on [email protected].