Going beyond the birds
Dull blue flycatcher
Sanath Herath is not, by his own admission, a passionate birder. But when this self-taught artist first took to painting five years ago during the long COVID days, it was birds that he painted and so it is perhaps fitting that his second exhibition ‘Theatre of Serendib Birds’ which opens at the Barefoot Gallery this week returns to this familiar ground.
Growing up surrounded by nature, Sanath has long been an interested observer of bird behaviour. With the exhaustive preparation for this exhibition, his fascination has only grown, so too wry amusement at the behaviour of various birds he has looked closely at. The Grey Hornbill for instance, a “really weird bird who behaves like a child” or a small bird like the Dull blue flycatcher, that has a big personality. You can never tell the bird’s behaviour from its size, he says.
When we meet him a fortnight before the opening of his second exhibition, he is surrounded by books which have been his companions in the journey to this exhibition. Weighty editions, old volumes like Vincent Legge’s ‘A History of the Birds of Ceylon’ and G.M. Henry’s ‘A Guide to the Birds of Ceylon’, sit with more recent publications on birds, lichens and plants. For Sanath is nothing short of obsessive in his research (his academic training as a landscape architect having some part in this) and while focusing on the country’s endemic birds, many endangered ones that figure in the IUCN’s Red List, he is also intent on exploring the ecological balance that is so vital for their existence.
His exhibition note highlights that it is not just the natural habitats he is looking at but “the diverse ecological roles these birds play, from apex predators to vital pollinators. Each artwork delves into the delicate balance of nature highlighting the interdependence of species and their environments.”
Sanath Herath
The exhibition’s somewhat dramatic title is suggestive of the scenes unfolding in the natural world, where each bird has its favourite plants and may sometimes be either in symbiotic relationship with other species or in competition with them. It seems a tall order to depict but Sanath hopes his paintings will give the viewer a better understanding and greater awareness of a world, which may not be immediately apparent.
“When you really observe human society you see there’s a lot of drama. It’s the same in the bird world, there is a lot of interaction with other species. So in the painting, you would see the bird, maybe their prey, the kind of plant the prey depends on and the other animal species attracted to this particular plant and the interplay between them.”
Long conversations with bird experts and conservationists – the likes of Prof. Sampath Seneviratne, Prof. Sarath Kotagama and Dr. Rohan Pethiyagoda gave him invaluable insights . He made copious notes and photographs taken during his earlier travels across the country (now less frequent due to work) came in handy too, he says. Two close friends, both pursuing their PhD studies overseas – Kanishka Madushanka and Akila Abeysinghe, have been frequently on call. Capturing the composition, with all the elements swirling in his mind’s eye has been the most challenging part.
Chestnut backed owlet
Of the 15 paintings he will exhibit, there are those strikingly recognisable birds like the Red-faced Malkoha often seen in Sinharaja, painted with the also vulnerable Pelan tree (Bhesa ceylanica), and a particular tiny butterfly, and the praying mantis that hunts the insects, also from the same habitat.
Without giving too much away, butterflies, moths and beetles make an appearance in many of his works. Look out too for lichens, lizards, fungi and many more that Sanath has taken much care to incorporate. The Scimitar Babbler which frequents upper montane area, is seen along with a lizard on its preferred location on a rhodendron flower, and the Serendib Scops owl in a bamboo thicket, with butterflies, moths and beetles that favour it too.
It was just over a year ago in October 2023, at the opening of his debut exhibition ‘Metamorphosis Papiliones Ceylonesis’ that the owner of the Barefoot Gallery Dominic Sansoni, with an unerring eye for spotting unusual potential invited the young artist back for another exhibition. Though he had already been quietly gaining a name for himself, doing painting workshops for the Bawa Trust as early as 2021, his first exhibition opened up a host of opportunities – and commissions that have since kept Sanath busy along with his regular work as a lecturer at the Moratuwa University where he teaches landscape architecture.
A very unexpected response after that exhibition which featured butterflies was that people called him to ask where they could get certain host plants he had featured in the paintings. That he got them thinking on the ecological and conservation aspects, he says, was deeply gratifying.
In October 2024, Sanath was also part of a group exhibition ‘Many Roads Through Paradise’ again at the Barefoot – how different artists perceive their landscape – where he chose to present a rather macabre view of the creeping destruction on different animal species wrought by invasive plants – again a pressing ecological issue that confronts us but which gains scant attention.
Crimson fronted barbet
Yet all his other work has been somewhat relegated from mid-November in the deadline pressure of another major exhibition, bedtime pushed to 4 a.m. – for he is “much more efficient” in the enveloping quiet of night, painting while listening to music– the classics and Indian ragas, his first love. When it all becomes a little heavy on the mind, he takes a break to play the piano: he is getting better at it, he says with a degree of satisfaction. Art, dance and music, he finds, have the same energy.
The piece de resistance at the exhibition which he was still working on is a large painting of the mixed species feeding flocks “the ultimate example of symbiosis” at Sinharaja depicting the endemics found in the rainforest.
As an artist who gives deep thought to the concept, the workmanship, the execution behind each work, Sanath is equally adamant that he doesn’t want to be seen purely as a natural history artist. What challenges and inspires him is finding and bringing out the intersection between art and science that would make his work relevant and meaningful.
‘Theatre of Serendib Birds’ will be on at the Barefoot Gallery from January 10-26, Monday to Saturday 10 a.m. -6.30 p.m.
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