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‘An expression and adventure but always an intoxication’
By Smriti Daniel
"The reward of art is not fame or success but intoxication; that is why so many artists find it difficult to give up," said Cyril Connolly, and it is in quoting him that Anoma Wijewardene seems to come closest to explaining the joy painting gives her. Creating is for her at times, "a state of grace" at others "an adventure"; now it is an "expression of self" and then it is "a compulsion", but it is always intoxicating.

Anoma has always loved colours and shapes, ever since she was old enough to pick up a crayon; and so it is surprising that she considered painting something she did in her "spare time" for most of her life. Initially recognized as an exceptional textile designer, specializing in weave design, Anoma's work was lauded from New York to Paris. She remembers that period as "very exciting", as she worked with some of the biggest names in the industry- Pierre Cardin, John Paul Gautier, Cacharel and Givenchy, among others. Her work has even graced the cover of Vogue magazine.

Time flew and later on Anoma returned to her alma mater the prestigious Central St Martin's College of Art, London, as a part-time lecturer in textile design. She graduated as the best student in her class and was content to teach younger aspirants the basics of the subject. She was always painting but was still not ready to look at painting as her full time profession. After 10 years, she decided to return to Colombo and begin exploring a career as a painter. She did not give up teaching entirely however and still takes weekly classes at her residence in Horton Place.

Her first solo exhibition was in 1993 at Barefoot, Colombo and in the years since Anoma has had four others. In her latest collection, Anoma draws her inspiration from another artist - Rainer Maria Rilke, who is considered one of modern Germany's greatest lyric poets. Anoma’s paintings have extracts from Rilke's poems for titles, but they are in no way illustrations of the same, stresses Anoma, as his work is "dense and abstract". Anoma may have been talking about Rilke's poetry, but one only needs to stand in front of one of her own paintings to see that it is equally true of her work. Enigmatic and fluid, her paintings are meant to be explored and savoured; hurry and you will miss the way diffused colours and shapes suddenly fuse and give way to sharp images and how even her colours seem to communicate texture.

Before starting a painting, Anoma spends some time in preparation, slowly building the core of what she wants to communicate. This is a process in which her myriad influences, experiences, thoughts and emotions all interact and come together in an initial sketch. Once she begins work, however, the painting is in charge and she is never entirely sure what the final result will be. "It's that moment when it's slightly out of control and I don't know what's going to happen next that it's most exciting. That's the mystery and the journey and the discovery...the process of creating is a kind of adventure."

"Everyday I have an urge to paint...to make marks on paper, on canvas on whatever. The way I express myself is on the two-dimensional plane," says Anoma who has a distinct preference for her paintbrush over any pen. "I am in control but also not in control...it is a kind of balance. You know that nobody else could do it in quite the same way but you are also quite amazed that something like this came out of you. I would call it a state of grace."

For Anoma, who has seen her paintings hung in numerous galleries in places like India, Malaysia and the UK, to name a few, there is yet to be an exhibition where she did not feel nervous. After all the move from the closed quiet of her studio to the open gallery is quite a step, especially as one is not only exposing a painting to the public but what is essentially a part of oneself. Conversely Anoma is very open to the process as she explains, "that's the way I connect with people.... I learn from which pieces they like, I learn from what they see in my paintings”.

Anoma Wijewardene’s exhibition will be on at the Paradise Road Galleries from November 19 to December 9.

Adaptation of Gide's 'La Symphonie Pastorale'
Mark Amerasinghe presents his sixth monodrama, 'Forbidden Fruit', an adaptation for stage of his own English translation of Gide's 'La Symphonie Pastorale' on Wednesday, November 17 at the Alliance française de Kandy, at 6.30 p.m.

In his adaptation Mark Amerasinghe employs the device of extensive cutting, re-arrangement and refashioning of text, and extrapolation, a manipulation, which the scriptwriter feels, could be justified textually and dramatically, while attempting to be faithful to the author's story line.

Gide's work, first published in 1919, describes the ecstasy and agony of two tortured souls in love, played against the background of two other conflicts- a marital one and a theological one. The central figure of the presentation is a Protestant pastor who falls in love with his ward - a blind orphan girl - and is torn between the desires and emotions of an ordinary human being and the spiritual obligations of a man of God. As the emotional relationship between the pastor and the girl develops, so does the marital conflict between the priest and his wife, who sees clearly what is happening, but appears to be helpless to change the course of events.

The marital conflict runs throughout the piece, while the sharp doctrinal differences between the liberal minded pastor and his highly conventional son, who himself has developed an emotional attachment to the girl, surfaces from time to time.

When the blind girl regains her sight after successful surgery, what had appeared to both priest and ward as an idyllic and happy relationship is shattered, and ends in an unexpected tragedy.

All are welcome and there will be a repeat performance at the Alliance française de Colombo, on Tuesday, November 23 at 6.30 p.m.

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