Painting Exhibition by Priyantha Weerasuriya

About

Priyantha Weerasuriya is an artist from Nitambuwa, a small agricultural village in Sri Lanka Weerasuriya attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Colombo and, while working an artist in Sri Lanka , he had a series of exhibitions in Colombo between 2002 and 2005 at Barefoot, the Harold Pieris and Lionel Wendt galleries among others. He has been commissioned by several major hotels in Sri Lanka and a series of panels was bought by the Australian High Commission Weerasuriya's first piece portrayed The Buddha on canvas. In that painting, he explored meditation but used a totally different approach. Unlike conventional paintings of the Buddha which tend to use traditional colours such as gold, he chose different colours and it was this change of style which attracted attention. Most of Weerasuriya's work explores Buddhist themes. One particular style has been the development of triptych and a three panel depiction of a Buddhist monk on a journey which now hangs in the remarkable Lighthouse Hotel in Galle, southern Sri Lanka. Weerasuriya moved to London in 2006 to continue studies at St Martins College of Art in London . He subsequently exhibited at the Nobel Sage Gallery, Finchley and participated in the Friends of Dulwich Picture Gallery Competition 2008 where a number of his works were acquired. In these more recent paintings, he utilised handmade paper as a medium with oil pastel and charcoal. Throughout his work, Priyantha Weerasuriya wants the viewer to more readily understand who the Buddha was and reflect on what his life means while he himself embarks on a personal journey of discovery. Buddhism and Hinduism are embedded into his spiritual culture. Buddha started as a young prince, an heir to a kingdom and a throne but he was never happy, until he reached enlightenment.