Kumari Pradeepika Perera:

An artist with a passion for Bio-science

Her many awards are proof that Kumari Pradeepika Perera is not simply a knock-out beauty but an artist of rare talent. With an extraordinary combination of passion to study for a Bachelor's degree in Bio-science and exploring her deep love and devotion for painting on canvas, from her early childhood she showed signs of creativity.

Kumari hails from Battaramulla. Her observant father became a powerful and a lasting influence to provide an artistic stimulus to her life. Having completed her A-Levels in Bio-science at Buddhist Ladies' College, Colombo, she entered the Open University to complete a degree in Bio-science.

Subsequently Kumari came under the tutelage of prominent art teacher Janaka Gunaratne, and from there onwards she became a member of the Ceylon Society of Arts, Colombo, and joined the art classes conducted by the Society.

Training

She was fortunate to receive her art training under eminent teachers such as Kalapathi Pulasthi Ediraweera, Jayantha Thisera and Akila Jayalath who moulded her as a budding artist. She is a lover of nature and in landscape composition she uses themes that stimulated her imagination.

Kumari Pradeepika Perera

From time to time Kumari painted landscapes with a frank and tasteful felicity. She infused into her pictures a 'creamy richness' in the mellow grandeur of orange, green, blue and white.

The subjects she selected for her paintings were the realistic scenes of everyday life such as bhikkhus, religious places of worship, waterfalls, animals, fishing boats and the seaside.

Her feelings for humanity deepened as she deviated from conventional portraits to simplifying drama to obtain profound effects.

Interests

Her urban interests made her an authority on straightforward scenes, often with some cattle and a herdsman; the figures and animals clumsily painted but the whole picture glowing with subdued light with an expanse of golden sky reflected in still water. She regarded her subject without illusions but with intimate knowledge and appropriate content for the forms she had evolved.

In 2008 Kumari held her first solo art exhibition, 'Light of Life' organised by The Ceylon Society of Arts. The admiration with which the exhibition was received was intense, with wide-ranging praise and accorded Kumari the recognition she had merited long ago.

The exhibition portrayed a wide variety of designs including birds, wildlife, village scenes and monochrome sketches. She uses oil and acrylics colours with thick brush stokes in flashy colours, the designs meticulous in balance, in all her exhibitions.

In some of the paintings titled 'Horses' not only is the paint applied impressively but the picture at a glance gives the 'impression' of a horse race.

In 2009 she participated in a group exhibition organised by the Light of Asia Foundation at the BMICH which was a tremendous success.

In 2008 she held the post of Assistant Treasurer at the Ceylon Society of Arts and is now attached to the University of Kelaniya for her Bachelor's degree in Arts. Kumari's most cherished dream of having her own art gallery has finally come true.

The gallery known as 'Rosewood Art Gallery' is being constructed in the suburbs of Colombo. Kumari looks back with pride, and confidence that she could not only make a name for herself as a fine artist but also excels in the field of Bio-science.