Vajira Gunawardena a young graduate in Fine Arts from the Institute of Aesthetic Studies, University of Kelaniya and an artist who has exhibited at the George Keyt Foundation's shows and national arts festivals organized by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs seems to have brought in a consumer focus to his second solo exhibition titled, 'My Recent Paintings' now being held at the Paradise Road Gallery.

His paintings are on the theme of the 'consumer being entangled in the web of goods in the market and their illusions'.

"Through the exploration of this unusual theme, I wanted to depict how all of us in this consumer world have become pawns of the market and the media, so much so our values, hopes and desires are shaped by them," says Vajira.

Vajira has employed eye-catching colours on canvas with spray paint and lacquer to present two novel modes in paintings.

"In the market, we see lots of colourful objects witch appeal to the eye, almost lure us and I wanted to capture them in my work," he explains. His work titled Sublime Object, a vibrant mix of orange, aquamarine and red depicts a television, a three-wheeler and chicken. " In this painting, I want to illustrate how the market culture has made us machines, how we take media propaganda as the gospel truth and when we can't afford all the products advertised, there's natural frustration," explained Vajira.

Koththu, a typical symbol of our fast-moving world, where both husband and wife are breadwinners, and a home-cooked meal is a luxury, seem to be an ideal title for Vajira's work on canvas where red predominates.

There's minimum emphasis on 'scaling' or proportion in Vajira's work. "I have purposely done away with scaling or proportions in my work to highlight this marketable theme that we have become part and parcel of various objects in the market like televisions, computers witch are supposed to expedite our routine work and entertain us but which in fact, make us lose our humanity," says Vajira whose painting Watching T.V portrays a man before a T.V both man and T.V of the same proportion.

He also believes in fusion of what is so called 'low art' and high art. 'Graffiti art' which is considered 'low art' and a pictogram of sub-cultures that has emerged with the concept of urbanization has found its way to Vajira's work. "Graffiti art is commonly found on walls and in subways in cities like New York and London and it's a medium of expressing the inner most passions and frustrations of people, especially the youth," says Vajira who is an advocate of the 'beauty of variety'. "I personally don't see art in compartments such as 'high' and 'low'. There's something special to extract from any work of art no matter if it's a canvas in a gallery or a work of spray paint or graffiti."

Vajira invites the art lover to enter into a ' dialogue'. "We cannot be cocooned in a small world of our own, but have to move with current trends which is also evident in my style of experimental art. All of us are becoming slaves of this fast moving materialistic world, and we can become the master only if we mark the boundary between the world of  goods and human values. Then we can reap the best of both without going to extremes," he says.

Randima Attygalle
Sunday Times
06 March 2005