Taprobane Collection

Dumith Kulasekara (1979)

“My approach to the theme [of trauma] is based on my personal and social experiences and my attempt to re-conceptualize that experience through the language of painting. My work is governed by two main events: one is my childhood memories of the civil war and the terrorism that happened in Sri Lanka in 1988-89, and since 1979 respectively, and the second is the death of the Father (my own).” – Dumith Kulasekara

 

Dumith Kulasekara is an artist and educator born and raised in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Kulasekara received his initial art education from the University of Visual and Performing Arts in Colombo, and completed an MFA in Painting at the prestigious New York Academy of Art in the US. While studying at the University of Visual and Performing Arts, Kulasekara created a unique aesthetic for himself. He has had two solo exhibitions, both focusing on the subject of trauma, and has also exhibited his work in various group exhibitions in countries including the US, UK and France. He is currently the Head of the Department of Painting at the University of Visual and Performing Arts, Sri Lanka.

Kulasekara belongs to a new second generation of artists following the 90s Trend in the contemporary art scene of Sri Lanka. Having lived through, and witnessed the country’s 30-year ethnic conflict, he largely focuses on its aftermath, and the effect the end of the conflict had on the citizens of Sri Lanka. Trauma as a lived experience, as well as a conceptual lineage in the history of art, locates Kulasekara’s work. His approach adopts the sensations and narratives of trauma as a consequence of conflict. His first solo exhibition titled Exhibition of Trauma (2008) included pieces directly influenced by his personal experience as a child growing up amidst conflict. The trauma of being affected by the socio-political and cultural repercussions of the conflict without fully understanding its circumstances as a child is present in this body of work.

 

The Symbolical Impossibility of Disavowing Trauma, his second solo exhibition, visually explored the concept of trauma even further. The paintings one sees are of the artist himself, revisited several times alongside his mother and wife. They evoke obvious echoes of the Freudian, and acknowledge the traumatic in relation to experiences associated with gender identity and sexual orientation(s). Kulasekara’s style is also emblematic for its inclusion of floral and phallic imagery, often on a single canvas. Sensuality and sexuality are portrayed as “surreal mindscapes of heightened colour, incongruous figures, and sensual colour and form, which sit awkwardly against tortured and distended bodies” – Josephine Breese writes.

Canvases of vivid and bright colours are Kulasekara’s forte, where colour and imagery become commentary related to human sexuality. He often uses haloed figures that have no identifiable gender identity, and are painted lifeless to depict the absurdity of male power and male chauvinism that prevail in a society embedded in heteropatriarchal ideals.

 

The work “Crying Masculinity” (2011) exhibited at the Asia House in London has a luminous pink background with haloed figures staring forward with a cat behind them, its head attached to a human body. The figure in the middle is conspicuously male, with his genitalia exposed to the viewer, and he stands out among the crowd, clad in a vibrant outfit of light blue, pink and red hues. “Crying Masculinity” makes a statement about the godlike associations or the god complex placed on the male, and the masculine, in patriarchal society, and the resulting trauma that arises in the human condition. This painting brings into focus Kulasekara’s approach to gender and trauma, as well as conflict caused by the struggle for power.

Kulasekara is a self-proclaimed humanist, whose expressive philosophy brings into focus the importance of collective and individual agency. A stance that is supported by an innate ability for critical thought in his portfolio of work.

Name of ExhibitionYearPlace
The Symbolical Impossibility of Disavowing Trauma2011Harold Peiris Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Contemporary Art from Sri Lanka2011Asia House, London, UK
Exhibition of Expression of Independence and Serendipity2010JDA Perera Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Opening Art Exhibition of JDA Perera Gallery (Academic Staff)2010JDA Perera Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Exhibition of Trauma2008Harold Peiris Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka
State Art and Sculpture Festival2008National Art Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Expression of Independence2008The Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris, France
Galle Literary Festival 2008: Galle Art Trail2008Old Bakery, Galle Fort, Galle, Sri Lanka
Exhibition of Sri Lankan Art2007National Art Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Nawa kalakaruwo, organized by the George Keyt Foundation2007National Art Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Young Contemporaries, organized by the George Keyt Foundation2006National Art Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Tsunami DARK-DEC Fundraising Exhibition2005The Faculty of the Visual Arts, University of the Visual and Performing Arts (UVPA), Colombo, Sri Lanka
An Exhibition of Traditional Paintings, organized by the Department of Painting, the Faculty of Visual Arts, University of the Visual and Performing Arts2005Heywood Gallery, University of the Visual and Performing Arts, Colombo, Sri Lanka
State Painting and Sculpture Award Festival2005National Art Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Documentaries

Name of DocumentaryYear of Production
1000 Shivas, Hand Painted Limited Edition Book2006
The One Year Drawing Project: May 2005-October 20072008
Chapter titled “An Overview of Modernisms in Sri Lankan Art of the Twentieth Century” in Artful Resistance: Contemporary Art from Sri Lanka edited by Sylvia S. Kasprycki and Doris I. Stambrau2010

Ref :DK 1

Title :Crying Masculinity

Signed :Lower Left

Year :2009

Measurements in Cms :121 x 121

Material Used :Acrylic on Canvas

Dimensions in Cms. :121 x 121

Ref :DK 2

Title :Transfiguration

Signed :-

Year :2013-2020

Measurements in Cms :76.2 x 60

Material Used :Oil on Canvas

Dimensions in Cms. :76.2 x 60

Ref :DK 3

Title :A Letter from the Father

Signed :Lower Left

Year :2012-2021

Measurements in Cms :76.2 x 60

Material Used :Oil on Canvas

Dimensions in Cms. :76.2 x 60

Ref :DK 4

Title :Who am I?

Signed :Lower Right

Year :2006

Measurements in Cms :95.5 x 82.5

Material Used :Acrylic on Canvas

Dimensions in Cms. :95.5 x 82.5

Ref :DK 11

Title :Homage to Gustave Courbet for the Pavilion of Realism

Signed :-

Year :2016

Measurements in Cms :194 x 130

Material Used :Oil on Linen

Dimensions in Cms. :194 x 130

Ref :DK 5

Title :Who are We?

Signed :Lower Left

Year :2006

Measurements in Cms :112 x 108

Material Used :Acrylic on Canvas

Dimensions in Cms. :112 x 108

Ref :DK 6

Title :When Masculinity is Dead Femininity?

Signed :Upper Right

Year :2007

Measurements in Cms :110 x 103

Material Used :Acrylic on Canvas

Dimensions in Cms. :110 x 103

Ref :DK 7

Title :Unnamed Creature

Signed :Upper Right

Year :2006

Measurements in Cms :48.5 x 42

Material Used :Oil on Canvas

Dimensions in Cms. :48.5 x 42

Ref :DK 8

Title :Body of Trauma

Signed :Upper Right

Year :2012

Measurements in Cms :76 x 61

Material Used :Oil on Canvas

Dimensions in Cms. :76 x 61

Ref :DK 9

Title :Traumatism

Signed :Lower Right

Year :2006

Measurements in Cms :68.5 x 69

Material Used :Acrylic on Canvas

Dimensions in Cms. :68.5 x 69

Ref :DK 12

Title :Mother and Female Child

Signed :Reverse

Year :2021-2022

Measurements in Cms :91 x 61

Material Used :Oil on Canvas

Dimensions in Cms. :91 x 61

Ref :DK 13

Title :White Skin?

Signed :Upper Left

Year :2016

Measurements in Cms :140 x 80

Material Used :Mixed Media & Japanese Black Ink on Handmade Japanese Paper

Dimensions in Cms. :140 x 80

Ref :DK 14

Title :This is not a Perversion?

Signed :Upper Left

Year :2016

Measurements in Cms :140 x 80

Material Used :Mixed Media & Japanese Black Ink on Handmade Paper

Dimensions in Cms. :140 x 80

Ref :DK 15

Title :A Body without Organs

Signed :-

Year :2016

Measurements in Cms :194 x 130

Material Used :Oil on Linen

Dimensions in Cms. :194 x 130

Ref :DK 17

Title :This is not Called Fur (I)

Signed :Lower Right

Year :2016

Measurements in Cms :16 x 16

Material Used :Ink on Paper

Dimensions in Cms. :16 x 16

Ref :DK 16

Title :A Body without Organs I

Signed :-

Year :2016-2022

Measurements in Cms :194 x 130

Material Used :Oil on Linen

Dimensions in Cms. :194 x 130

YearInstituteQualification
2014New York Academy of Art, New York, USAMFA
2002-2008University of Visual and Performing Arts, Colombo, Sri LankaBFA (Hons) in Painting
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