Her ‘walk of thoughts’ in black and white
Walking into the Saskia Fernando Gallery you are greeted by life-size installations embodying your invisible thoughts, the silent conversations in your head between positivity and negativity; the good and the bad. The black and the white of your contemplations.
Randika de Silva in her first solo exhibition ‘Coexist’- has chosen to look into the intricate tangles of human experience and emotions.
“I mostly draw inspiration from human experiences and thoughts – this collection is about how you are torn between the two ends of thoughts, the good and the bad, depicted through the black and the white. I wanted to bring to life what you feel inside – a thought can be as pure as the colour white or as dark as black can get, it’s entwined, twisted, and muddled but it is also a perfect balance.”
“Whether it is a good or a bad thought, it is equally important to maintain the perfect balance of a human being,” she explains.
A recipient of the A4A production grant supported by the Udyashanth Fernando Foundation and the Saskia Fernando Gallery, she says “this was a life-changing moment for me” greatly appreciating such foundations for budding artists. “I studied to be a fashion designer at the University of Moratuwa but always had pages and pages of drawings of 2D creatures which I kept hidden away. Since I was familiar with fabrics I started sculpting these creatures into 3D form through fabric manipulation techniques.”
Randika de Silva: Giving expression to entangled thoughts. Pix by Akila Jayawardena
It was also a way of keeping alive her mother’s legacy- “she always sewed everything for us and taught me embroidery as well,” she smiles fondly.
Coming from a designing background, Randika says she always found it hard to restrict herself to a client brief or specification. “But as an artist, I found that it is quite liberating to be able to break norms and express myself through a new creation.”
You have to also be brave enough to let others see the intimate thoughts inside your head and be open to criticism as well. “But for me, it has been most comforting to have people come up to me and tell me how well they can relate to my work, ensuring that I am not alone in this walk of thoughts….”
Coexist opened on April 25 and will run until May 22 at the Saskia Fernando Gallery with a series of artist walk-throughs and workshops by Randika.
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