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Shades of passion in open air
By Mahangu Weerasinghe
Every human is born with the need to express himself. However, what defines a person is the way he embraces this need. Many of us claim not to have the time, energy or resources to do what we truly love. Others, like Ajith know that it is only worth doing what you love.

Ajith Susantha is a young artist driven by a goal - expression. Every weekend, along with five other students from the Kelaniya University’s Institute of Aesthetic Studies, the 28-year-old exhibits his paintings along Greenpath in Colombo. Be it a bold acrylic mosaic, or a finely crafted watercolour, the paintings all share one thing. They are all full of pure, unabridged passion.

"Art is not something that can be confined to art galleries alone," says Ajith, gesturing to the many paintings lined up along the pavement. "Art cannot be contained inside four walls - art is about what you feel, about what I feel, about what we feel as a society,” he says. "The biggest reward for us is not the money we get by selling these - what we really live for is the moment when someone stops and connects with a painting."

"I chose shades of blue for this one because it shows the coldness that exists between the couple," continues Ajith pointing at a painting showing in mild abstractness, a man and a woman seated apart, faces turned away from each other. "I chose white and brushed downwards because it makes them seem more ghost-like, even universal," explains Ajith. Likewise, every painting arranged along the pavement has a story, one that Ajith will not hesitate to explain.

The sale of paintings however, is also important for these struggling students. "We don't make a lot of money from these paintings and the money we do make is used for buying canvas and paints,"he says.Being full-time students, the artists need the income to continue their painting.

As far as the paintings go - from detailed watercolours to blaring abstract art, there is something here for every collector. The prices between Rs. 1500 and Rs. 7000 are a lot more affordable than most places in town.

Ajith, who is currently in his third year at university, plans to base his final year project on the prisons of Sri Lanka. "My idea is to bring out the state of prisons using my art," says Ajith, who is hoping to visit three prisons in the course of his research. Ajith will spend time at the Welikada Magazine Prison, the Bogambara Prison and the Negombo Prison in order to correctly understand the life of an inmate.

"Having grown up in Wanathamulla, an area knownfor crime and drugs, I feel I owe it to my background to try and understand these people," says Ajith. "I think as artists, and as citizens, we are all responsible to society. This is one way I feel I can give a little bit back to the surroundings I grew up in," he explains.

After University, Ajith hopes to become a landscape designer. "Whatever I do though, I'm pretty sure I will still be painting on the side," says Ajith. "I love it too much to let go."

A painting is the same - whether held against an expensive frame in an art gallery, or against the hot stones of a Colombo pavement. A painting is not defined by what is around it, but what is in it. A painting is about the artist. About his thoughts, his words, his dreams. A painting is about everything he was, is and will be.

To have a glimpse of that cross section is truly a privilege. So, the next time you pass the Greenpath roundabout on a weekend evening, just stop for a few minutes and share a few words with these young people. They paint not because they must, but because they may, and because they know not how to stay away from the passion that drives them. Seeing that passion, incarnate, on paper will truly be worth your while. And who knows? In the process you might discover a part of you that craves expression as well.

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