Kicking off a week of Colombo Fashion Week under the theme ‘Celebrating Colombo’, the ART CONNECT was the first of a series of events lined up this week. 

Under the theme, ‘Second Skin’, the event bought together five major artists under one roof for the first time ever to showcase artistic work inspired by fashion. 

 

Speaking to the CEO of Colombo Fashion Week, Fazeena Rajabdeen, she tells us that this event is one of the many celebrating CFW’s theme this year. “We are creating a great experience and taking Celebrating Colombo to heart. Fashion is like second skin and so is Art so today we are celebrating this together”. 

 

The exhibition was curated by Chamika De Alwis, who tells us that in looking at the idea of fashion and art he selected 5 artists he felt where best in line with the theme. “These artists where the first people I thought connected their art with fashion unconsciously.” 

 

Founder and President of Colombo Fashion Week, Ajai Vir Singh was equally enthusiastic about this event, “What we are achieving today is two creative streams blending into one and it’s great to see two streams that are different but also similar come together to showcase.” 

---

Kingsley Gunathilaka 

 

Born in Wadduwa, Kingsley has had his work exhibited across the world and has attended numerous workshops in Sri Lanka and abroad.His journey in life reflected through abstract art on canvas with the mixing of colour insisting on an "uncomplicated space free of problems. 

Tell us a bit about your collection. 

This collection started out from a fashion design magazine project where I blended a variety of colours and hidden certain objects and figures in the painting to depict fashion. 

What’s the inspiration behind it? 

I have been to many fashion shows and just seeing the colours and movements and the silhouettes on the runways I was inspired to incorporate them all into my painting. One of my most favourite artists Cy Twombly gave me the inspiration of including scribble like illustrations in my painting. 

When did you get into the artistic field? 

I’m a teacher at the College of Fine Arts and I teach visual art and work with illustrations and graphic designs. I started art about 30-40 years ago and have been painting ever since. 

What do you want your audience to feel when they see your artwork? 

I think it’s up to the audience to feel what they feel. I want them to take in the colours and admire the shapes and movements hidden in the canvas. 

What are your thoughts on combining fashion and art at CFW’s ART CONNECT? 

I think it’s a great opportunity and for me without fashion there is nothing and it’s two streams that just goes together always so I’m glad for this chance. 

 

Mahen Perera 

 

Mahen Perera trained in Multi-Disciplinary Design at the National Design Centre in Colombo before going on to pursue his BA in Fine Arts from the Lasalle College of the Arts in Singapore in affiliation with the Open University U.K., where he was awarded a first class Honors and was the recipient of the prestigious Winston Oh travel award in 2007 which allowed him to undertake a month-long residency in Prague. His works have been exhibited in Sri Lanka, Singapore and Vietnam. His work explores the innate mutability of materials that gravitate between painting and sculpture; how permutation reconstructs and provides new stimuli for visual perception. 

Tell us a bit about your collection. 

Well, it starts with early work wash canvasses where I paint on the canvass first and then I wash them so it leaves this spontaneous print on the canvas. And then the scene moves from paintings to objects where I’ve sewed and blended the canvas to create objects. 

What’s the inspiration behind it? 

I think material is the ‘second skin’ of what I am doing and this second skin tells a lot about fashion in it’s own manner. 

When did you get into the artistic field? 

My brother is an antique dealer and when I went around with him looking for antiques that curiosity to find something interesting and new just drew me into art and I loved it and this passion just developed from art school. 

What do you want your audience to feel when they see your artwork? 

Artists just ‘see’ what is on the canvas. I want them to feel whatever they want to feel and if they don’t feel anything I can’t force it. For me art is very personal and subjective. 

What are your thoughts on combining fashion and art at CFW’s ART CONNECT? 

I think this is an interesting concept. This is social commentary and looking at all the elements of fashion and making it into art is something that naturally happens because art and fashion are all just in under one spectrum. 

 

Pala Pothupitiye 

 

Pothupitye received his art education at the Visual and Performance Art University at Colombo, graduating with a BFA in sculpture.He confronts issues such as colonialism, nationalism, religious extremism and extends his inquiry to questions of caste, the distinction between arts and crafts, tradition and modernity. 

 

Sanjaya Geekiyanage 

Sanjaya Geekiyanage graduated from the University of Visual and Performing Arts majoring in Sculpture. He uses copper as a medium for his work; evoking different colours from the material. His is an unusual technique of wrecking the copper and reassembling it for sculptures. 

Tell us a bit about your collection. 

This is based on fashion mannequins and I’ve done it in the form of a sculpture. 

What’s the inspiration behind it? 

I’ve got my inspiration by looking at the form of the mannequin and I was influence by the structure of ‘Gokkola leafs’. 

When did you get into the artistic field? 

I’ve been involved in sculptures for a long time but this kind of style dealing with direct material I only started 3 years ago. 

What do you want your audience to feel when they see your artwork? 

I want them to see the human form and feel the rhythm within. 

What are your thoughts on combining fashion and art at CFW’s ART CONNECT? 

I always believe that if there is no fashion there is no art and if there is no art there is no fashion! 

 

Sanjeewa Kumara 

With a Bachelor of Fine Arts of the Institute of Aesthetic Studies from the University of Kelaniya, Sanjeewa has presented his works abroad as well as in Sri Lanka. In his artwork, he explores the use of lush, sensual imagery, and how the collision of Western pop culture and the South Asian island's post colonial legacy impacts his imagination. 

Tell us a bit about your collection. 

I have used old paintings and cut and pasted them on new canvases like one would do with photo shop and painted over it with acrylic paint to create woman like figures and even futuristic figures. 

What’s the inspiration behind it? 

Well, combining it with fashion and art, as my canvas I’ve used a very saree like material and I drew inspiration from my Kandyan heritage to reinvent the typical Kandyan paintings from the lining to the colours. 

When did you get into the artistic field? 

I got involved with art by accident. Since Ordinary Levels I have been doing traditional paintings and since then I have worked on my art for over 15 years. 

What do you want your audience to feel when they see your artwork? 

I want the audience to feel the difficulty and the effort it takes to create such a print and also for them to feel how the art connects to fashion. 

What are your thoughts on combining fashion and art at CFW’s ART CONNECT? 

I’ve been a painter for 15 years and I’ve always thought fashion and art has a strong tie together. So I think this is a great exhibition.