Vidurasa Kumara: Simplifying the complex

Vidurasa Kumara is entranced by nature. Trees, animals, birds and insects... they all inspire him, as does the colour variation of plants and leaves, the patterns cast by the rising sun and of course the human body.

His paintings are open to multiple interpretations. Vidurasa acknowledges this by pointing out that different people perceive things in different ways. He however deems him paintings complex yet simple, which enables him to reflect on life and relationships.

Vidurasa likes to paint both figures and landscapes, but says he examines the inner thoughts and feelings of individuals and complex social issues such as child abuse and teenage pregnancies through figures, which he says enables him to explore and understand a wide range of human emotions such as sadness, happiness, kindness, friendship and love. A versatile artist, Vidurasa experiments with technique using water colour and charcoal even though his favourite medium is oil on canvas. Encouraged to paint by his father and influenced by Leonardo Da Vinci and Michael Angelo, Vidurasa, who had his primary and secondary education at Holy Cross College, Kalutara, studied art at the University of Visual and Performing Arts in Colombo.

He says senior lecturers at the University of Visual and Performing Arts, Sarath Gunasiri Perera, Jagath Ravindra and Suneth Aravinda helped him hone his artistic talents.

He likes travelling and visiting places of artistic heritage and loves the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh, and Paul Gauguin.

Pictures provided by the artist