The eye of the beholder

SPIRIT OF THE BUDDHA

An exhibition of photographs by Dhanushka Amarasekara

"A tree that can fill the span
Of a man's arms
Grows from a downy tip;
A terrace nine stories high
Rises from handfuls of earth;
A journey of a thousand miles
Starts from beneath one's feet."

Lao Tzu

As an Islander, as a woman and an artist Dhanushka Amarasekara have strived to take her first steps in achieving a series of images that evoke the spirit of the Buddha and parts of his life, through visual representation of Black and White Photography, capturing a sense of the past along with the present.

This journey is as much of discovering a country where he lived and traveled but also capturing experiences on how this country lives and breathes the contemporary stories, tales and legends of the Buddha.

She claims that sha has barely taken her first steps towards this particular subject matter and thinks that she has a long way to go...This present exhibition is brought across more as a work in progress project to viewers and although it is vastly different to her earlier work which revolved mainly along the lines of more homoerotic imagery, the artist believe that her style & way of shooting has always remained the same....

Dhanushka Amarasekara has studird at Queensland University of Technology is a Bachelor of Arts ( Visual Arts) QLD, Australia Gateway College of TAFE - Certificate in Visual Art & Design QLD, Australia

She has shown her work both collectively at group exhibitions and also as a solo artist | KHOJ international Artists Residency New Delhi in 2005, IMAGING PEACE, Women Photographers Of South Asia also in 2005 at the Italian Cultural Centre, New Delhi(conference)

"SHADOWS" | Barefoot Gallery in 2004, CLICKART - SINGAPORE (Conference & Photo Exhibition) in. 2003 INDIAN INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR THE ARTS in Delhi and Mumbaia series of Black & White Photographs depicting the Male Body in 2003 and 2004. An exhibition at Th World Trade Centre titled ISLAND ARTS & CRAFTS a Group Show in May 2001 and participated in th WORLD PRESS PHOTO Seminar Series in 2001-2002 held in Colombo.

"GAMES BETWEEN FRIENDS" a series of B&W Photography was exhibited at Barefoot Gallery in 2000, "SRI LANKAN MEMORIES" | An Exhibition Of Photography To Commemorate 50 Years.

Of Sri Lankan Independence in 1999 at Barefoot Gallery, "VISIONS" An Exhibition Of B&W Photography at Lionel Wendt Gallery in 1998 plus "MINIATURES" a Group Exhibition at Soap Box Gallery, Brisbane Qld in 1997 all are experiences that has made the artist gain exposure and notice amongst photography enthusiasts around the world

The artist Currently lives in Sri Lanka & is Working as Creative Director @ Liquidmedia. Her exhibition presently showing at Barefoot Gallery ends on the 24th of June.