Fostering creative vision

Dray is an American artist, based in the vibrant Las Vegas art scene, and specialises in investigating different forms of abstract expressionism. Working in this field has enabled to Dray to pursue his goal to take traditional forms of expression and completely reinvent them - presenting a fresh and unique view on traditional forms of art.

Dray's artistic potential was discovered quite early on in life when, at age Seven, he was encouraged by his teachers to enrol in the Barnsdale Park Art School in Hollywood, USA. Later, he would focus his talents on drafting and architecture before finally settling into an altogether different field of art-working as a recording engineer and musician.

By 1991, however, Dray had returned to the visual arts in a big way, concentrating his time and effort on investigating different forms of expression to find the one that would carry his artistic voice.

Working with a wide variety of pastels, oil pastels and magazine clippings, Dray spent the early years of his career working to reinvent the art of portraiture.

At this stage he was also heavily influenced by examples of expressionist art found in art and tattoo magazines that suggested 'pure use of colour without recognisable form'. This influence proved to be the segue that brought him out of portraiture and into a more investigative field of expression.

Dray's career began to really take off when he moved away from Los Angeles and into Las Vegas at the turn of the century. This move marked Dray's decision to devote all of his time to developing his artistic vision.

Following the move to Las Vegas, Dray came to be influenced by the works of artists such as Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, though he was also inspired by his continuing strong connection to both cubism and graffiti art.

Since living in Las Vegas, Dray has been commissioned to paint several murals as part of Las Vegas' 'City of 100 Murals' Centennial project. This led to collaboration with 300 local fourth-graders who helped design a sound wall mural that now decorates a stretch of the Interstate-95 highway and celebrates both the city's 100th birthday and the Las Vegas Springs Preserve.

Dray's experience in working with young people on this project is one of the many factors that has inspired him to reach out to Sri Lanka's young people now and give so generously to support the work of Sunera Foundation - a Sri Lankan charity dedicated to fostering the creative vision of young Sri Lankans with a disability.

****

Exhibition for Sri Lankan youth

Acclaimed American artist Dray will hold an exhibition of his works in support of young Sri Lankans. The exhibition will open at Bay Leaf Restaurant, Gregory's road, on June 6, 2006, and will run till June 20. Proceeds will go to support the continuing work of Sunera Foundation.

The exhibition is a collection of vibrant and challenging works that has been over a year in the making. Following the 2004 tsunami disaster. Dray felt compelled to reach out to the Sri Lankans through his art.

This exhibition is the culmination of that dedication. "Working with children has definitely been the highlight of my career," Dray said, "So, after seeing the devastation from the tsunami and the children affected by the civil war in Sri Lanka, I was compelled to help in the only way I knew how. Through my art."

The exhibition has been put together with the help of dedicated sponsors, the Bay Leaf Restaurant and Triad Aid. Entry to the exhibition is free.

About Sunera Foundation

Sunera Foundation is a government-approved charity that has been working since 1997 to restore hope and dignity to differently abled young people in Sri Lanka. Through the use of performing arts, Sunera strives to provide psychological support and social integration to people in need right across the island.