Saskia Fernando Gallery presents ‘Elsewhere’, an exhibition by artist Sandatharaka Abeysinghe.‘Elsewhere’ imagines a surreal realm submerged beneath water, where terrestrial flora has evolved into towering giants, creating a haven for a forgotten civilisation.
Inspired by Ilya Repin’s ‘Sadko’, Sandatharaka Abeysinghe envisions an underwater world where a city engulfed by water continues to thrive in the present day, hidden from the world above. Abeysinghe completed a Bachelors in Visual Arts from the University of Visual and Performing Arts,Colombo in 2019. His work has been show cased in solo exhibitions at Paradise Road Galleries and JDA Perera Gallery and he has also participated in numerous group exhibitions in India, China, Italy andBangladesh.
His work has been featured in ‘Re-imagining Ceylon: Contemporary Artist in Sri Lanka’,anImago Mundi publication by the Benetton Foundation. Abeysinghe’s practice is deeply influenced by the rich folklore and rural traditions, capturing the essence of rural life amidst the relentless advance of urbanisation. In his upcoming series, the artist explores new visual trajectories, experimenting with oil paint to create a hyper-realistic, scintillating world brimming with tropical colours. Breaking away from conventional painting techniques, Abeysinghe freely experiments with digital technology, generative AI, and still-life drawing to conceptualise his images before bringing them to life on canvas.
Abeysinghe’s imagination brings to life a romanticised interpretation of Sri Lankan culture and history, situated within a world that transcends the rigid categories of modernity. Desert succulents, tropical fauna and birds of paradise coexist in a fantastical realm where different ecosystems blend into each other, uninhibited by time and geographies. Human life appears diminutive against this backdrop where mega fauna and mega flora envelop the canvas. As the scale tips so does the dynamic between humanity and the natural realm as they seek symbiosis and coexistence within this underwater scape.
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