Strokes that reconnect with his roots
There is something about Charith Pelpola’s paintings of wildlife that speak straight to the heart. Not for his subjects the sunsets or grasslands to frolic, in- instead, many are looking directly at you. Their gazes are penetrating, their poses contrived. In ‘The Long Goodbye’, a cheetah looks back at the viewer from behind a bushy tail, looking rather world weary and solemn. For the artist, who says “it has always been about nature,” these are the creatures that have captured his imagination ever since his childhood.
Lankan born Charith assumes many roles in his career. Primarily a documentary maker for television, he is based in Singapore. He is also somewhat of a philanthropist, though he would never presume to describe himself so, he has a soft corner for dogs, and bears-and many other animals. He is also notably an artist who began painting as a little boy who missed his home, having migrated to the UK as a five year old. Although memories of his motherland soon began to fade his curiosity as he got older led him to art, in the expression of Sri Lanka’s rich wildlife heritage. Charith began to paint from magazines and faintly remembered landscapes, works of pastel and ink, eventually moving back to Sri Lanka after almost 20 years in the UK. He was introduced to Nihal Fernando, and was encouraged to pursue his creative streak. “For two years I had the opportunity to travel the length and breadth of the country- it really opened my eyes and connected me with my heritage in a very tangible and emotional way,” he says over an email interview. “-and suddenly drawing an elephant in Yala or a fisherman in Negombo seemed to become a very instinctive process.”
Being in Sri Lanka helped him find focus in his art, and observing and learning from Prof. Sarath Chandrajeewa, Charith developed his skills. Within two years he was holding photography and art exhibitions and a few of his work made it to collections overseas.
Charith
However, it is his work in television that has really defined the artist. Charith began his work with Young Asia Television, writing, producing and eventually hosting weekly programme ‘Nature Calls’. “After three years reporting on the state of the environment both locally and across the region, I realized that I needed a larger canvas and a larger theatre to tell my stories.” Albeit reluctantly, he moved to Singapore to work with the national headquarters for Discovery Channel and the National Geographic Channel, established himself and began making documentaries.
His work has only served to reinforce his love of nature and its bounty. “I have been lucky enough to travel across Asia and film some of the most endangered and unique species of animals in the world – from the last population of Asiatic Lions in India, to the almost extinct Philippine (Monkey-Eating) Eagle, to the primeval Komodo Dragon of Indonesia,” he notes. His favourite projects are the ones that allow him to return to Sri Lanka, most notably for a documentary about the critically endangered Sloth Bear called ‘Season of the Spirit Bear’. In it the rarely sighted sloth bear, a “reluctant ghost”, ambles through the forest as the documentary juxtaposes its extinction with that of the indigenous Veddha tribe, also threatened in the face of modernity. The show went on to receive several awards, “a real milestone” in his career.
Today Charith has taken on more of an executive role so that he may pursue his art in earnest. “I want to give it purpose,” he says, and has done so with his pieces being used by conservation groups across the world to promote and raise awareness about their work. He also works with the voluntary organization ‘Action for Singapore Dogs’ as a portrait artist for their resident dogs to raise awareness and funds.
His subject matter is still very much centred on the natural world, he says, although it has widened its scope to encompass the human com
munities that still call the wild home. In ‘Brothers’, a young boy leans against a cheetah, hand on heart. ‘Devil dancer’ is a fierce face adorned with paints. (You can view some of his work on http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/charith-pelpola.html- these are also available as greeting and post cards and posters)
Charith hopes to return to Sri Lanka this year for an exhibition in Colombo. “I am working on something that will be both visual and feature the spoken word, as many of my artworks are also accompanied by prose or poetry – one often having given rise to the other during the creation of each piece,” he shares. He thinks local audiences will appreciate his work on “a much deeper and inherent” level-and of course, “I’ll also get the chance to return home and reconnect with my roots.”