Chandana Ranaweera:

The ballpoint artist

By RS Karunaratne

Most artists use the palette and the brush. They use water colours, acrylic or oil paint. In contrast, Chandana Ranaweera has selected the simple ballpoint pen to draw and bring life to many of his themes and concepts.

Basically, Chandana has selected three themes for his art work. In the first place, he draws gods and goddesses in different shapes and postures. They are not the usual images you see at Hindu Kovils or some Buddhist temples.

Some of his gods sit on a mat holding a trident. The way they sit does not inspire any feelings of awe or respect for them. They seem to be waiting for their devotees to come to them for various favours. One of his drawings aptly titled ‘The sitting god’ proves this point.

In another drawing Chandana depicts a trident flanked by two javelins. Under them you see three lighted coconut oil lamps. Probably the oil lamps and the trident are waiting for a god to descend from heaven! I am reminded of samuel Becket’s ‘Waiting for Godot’ where a man is waiting for the arrival of god who never comes.

Demands

You can interpret this drawing in another way. The god may have abandoned his abode realising his inability to meet the demands of human beings. The large number of devotees who flock to Kataragama and other places are pestering gods for various favours.

God cannot fulfil all the demands. Even a god may get tired of bestowing his blessings on everybody who makes a trip to his abode.

On the other hand, Chandana seems to be fascinated by traditional drummers and Kavadi dancers. I am told that he visits temples and devales to collect raw material for his unusual drawings. In his regular rounds he invariably sees drummers who beat the traditional drum at temples and devales.

The drummers are backed by pipers who make a sharp sound of music that pierce your ear-drums. But we are used to such music because the traditional musicians are a common sight at almsgivings. Pirit ceremonies and funerals.

They are self-made musicians who have received no formal training here or abroad. But they have picked up the art from their elders who keep on passing their knowledge from generation to generation.

Roots

Chandana has his roots n the village. He was born in Kurunegala and was educated at Alawwa Junior School. Thereafter, he moved to a prestigious schools in Kurunegala. Soon he found himself in an art class conducted by the Lanka Kala Sangamaya. Having learned the rudiments of art he honed his skills further under the able guidance of Sumana Dissanayake, an artist of repute.

Here is an artist who has been holding solo exhibitions of his creation almost annually. His first exhibition was held way back in 1991. Thereafter, he held similar exhibitions in Colombo, Alawwa, and Kandy.

Although he could not hold any exhibition abroad, Chandana sent his entries to foreign exhibitions held in India, Bangladesh, and Japan. Some of his drawings were bought by art lovers in France, England, Singapore and the United States. In addition, he has won many awards at art competitions held locally.

Influence

Being a man of the soil, Chandana is eternally influenced by nature.

He sees trees in clusters and different shapes. He calls his traditional flowers ‘Senasilla’ meaning ‘Consolation’. He looks at the moon and sees its reflections in the water. In another drawing he shows heavy rains coming down on the sea raising its waves up in the air.

Chandana Ranaweera is not the typical artist you see at posh art galleries. You can see him walking on the pavement observing men and the passing scene.

He travels miles and miles looking for fresh materials for his drawings. Then he sits down with his ballpoint pan and creates wonderful drawings which entertain the viewer.