Rukman Jayasundare:

Painting music on his canvas

by Ryhanna Salie

For Rukman Jayasundare music evokes memory. An artist who loves the unusually, he uses his canvas to explore the inter-relationship between music and art.

He remembers drawing on the walls of his home and on the floor when he was a child, and he uses music as a language to communicate. The power of music and the way in which it fosters creativity is illuminated by his thematic concerns, which portray musical instruments such as the piano, guitar and saxophone.

He describes his paintings as musical paintings and says, "I try to find shapes and colours from the field of music and I listen to the lyrics of songs because words give form to images."

Rukman says painting helps him understand his feelings and expand his consciousness. So naturally he listens to music while painting.

He uses a mixed medium of acrylic on cardboard, and strives for variety with materials such as metal and plastic from washers, nuts, bolts and cans.

His parents encouraged him to paint since childhood and he studied art at the University of Visual and Performing Arts in Colombo under the tutelage of Chandragupta Thenuwara and Jagath Ravindra.

Outside art, Rukman enjoys playing the guitar and likes listening to the music of yanni, Michael Jackson and Ricky Martin.