Pathma Wijesinghe:

Emotive art

by Ryhanna Salie

For Pathma Wijesinghe art is a form of emotional expression, similar to poetry and music. Her passion for painting was kindled while she was teaching art at a school in a remote area in Badulla. Thereafter she went to France and studied art at Beaux Art in Paris. She also completed a Diploma in French at the University of Sorbonne.

Pathma, who lived in France for 23 years and participated in many exhibitions, says she was inspired to paint after visiting the museums and art galleries in France.

All of Pathma's paintings and sculptures are done with living models. She prefers to paint figures because human emotions can be conveyed through them. Her favourite medium is oil, because it enables her to give emotional depth and light and shadow to her paintings.

Pathma says she paints the figures first and then fills in the background and that she likes listening to music while painting.

Pathma returned to Sri Lanka in 2004 and since then has held many exhibitions in Colombo. She also participated in the recently held Kala Pola.

Multi-talented, Pathma plays the violin and in her spare time translates French literature into Sinhala.

A past pupil of Seevali Vidyalaya, Borella, Pathma worked as a government trained teacher for nine years, before opting for a career as a full time artist. She now has a gallery of her own.

(Pictures provided by the artist)