Sumiman Nirmalavasan is a visual artist who works across a range of mediums, from which he favours oil and clay to dye on cloth and canvas. Born in Batticaloa in 1982, his work, since he began as an artist, functions as both an aesthetic choice and a reflection of a broader reality. Without easy access to conventional art materials, Nirmalavasan found that the organic mediums of clay, gravel, sack, coal, ash, and tea dye were far more representative of his narrative.
His latest exhibition, titled “Reminiscence”, is a reflection of these memories growing up along the east coast of Sri Lanka. Talking to Brunch about his inspiration for his newest project, he explained that as a child he grew up hearing only the distant tales of war passed down to him from his father. Soon, he himself became a victim in the war. The life and merriment of the village he grew up in drained in front of his eyes as his family relocated to escape the war; but the war, he said, was inescapable.
Through this exhibition, Nirmalavasan hopes to bring new life to the memories of his treacherous past; he depicts the abundant mangroves and green, marshy paddy fields, the days he spent as a child, drawing on the walls of his house, and spinning the stories his father told him over the years.
Taking us on a journey through the early days of his childhood, he described that he and his friends used to find joy simply by drawing on the sand in front of his house. “On those days, an old mother living near my home was saving a book of paintings in the bottom pot of the pot pile. The paintings were drawn by her teacher’s son who was sick and lived out of the village,” he said, adding that her grandchildren would quite often present him the opportunity to go through the book.
After seeing such a book, he began to collect paintings that he drew. “My father was incredibly helpful with this and he used to happily show off my paintings to our relatives and friends. That is the first time I was recognised as a painter, and I found that I very much enjoyed that feeling.”
He informed us that in 2006, a situation arose in Jaffna where people were unable to buy not only oil colour, but even food items due to the war. This prompted the question: Can’t I draw paintings without oil colour? He stated that the very horrible emotion of fear struck him, as he used impressions of the Earth, clay, to colour his paintings. “After this, I learned that oil colour did not do justice to my memories, so I began using materials like clay, gravel, sack, coal, ash, and tea dye in my paintings.”
This year, he faces more problems due to the pandemic, but he remains optimistic. Nirmalavasan commented that he wants to use this exhibition to unite the general public during the pandemic by displaying his wartime memories via the paintings, adding that we should use this pandemic as a means to advance the form of art in a different way, saying that “the pandemic may give us a new art form”.
Talking to us about what he thinks is the most important aspect of his art is, he commented: “It is reminiscing about wartime memories. The main purpose of my art practice is to comfort the spectators and give them hope for life.”
The 21 works of art placed in the Reminiscence exhibition are made in the order in which a word from the Bible transforms the memories of the past into works of art, but he added that they are not Christian paintings nor are they about Christianity.
Nirmalavasan said he does not have any more exhibitions in mind, but for now, he hopes to focus on Reminiscence and thus uniting the public in times of trouble through art.
