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by Aditha Dissanayake

"Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!/ Bird thou never wert,/That from heaven or near it,/Pourest thy full heart/In profuse strains of unpremeditated art". I mutter Shelley's words, to myself as I gaze at Amaresh Pereira's seventeen paintings on the walls of the Barefoot Gallery,Colombo.

It is hard to pinpoint my feelings. Hard to know why I'm thinking of Shelley ,and above all, hard to analyse, dissect, interpret (isn't this what an art critic is supposed to do?) while gazing into the work in front of me. I give up. I close my notebook, put the nib back on my pen and simply gaze, gaze and gaze...till I'm mesmerised.

Amaresh brings me back to earth. He begins to speak with a vehement, staggering statement. "I don't paint for the market!" Fine. "I don't allow my paintings to shape my ideas. I let my ideas shape my paintings". Fine again.

Whether they be "unpremeditated" or not, from the mysteriously veiled "Lankathilake for all Seasons" to the paint brushes, tubes and toppled bottles in "Studio Dreaming", the paintings leave long- lasting imprints on the mind. In "Demon Destiny" and "Manwifery", Amaresh offers active human experiences which have to be received with equally active fervour. Every line, every daub of paint rises to the Condition of Art Joseph Conrad defined, in the "Niger of the Narcissus".

Amazed at the response he had received for his work from European's because he had expected them not to go in for figurative work, Amaresh is now dreaming of holding an exhibition in Jaffna. "Right now it's only a dream. But within the next few weeks I intend to travel to Jaffna to make the necessary arrangements to make this dream come true".

For someone who says all his other dreams have already been realised, this too is undoubtedly an achievable feat. Especially so, because Amaresh is a young artist who believes much could be and ought to be achieved with the hand that paints. But, grins Amaresh, being a professional painter is hard work.

Even though he admits painting is his lifeblood he confesses "I wouldn't recommend this to my worst enemy".

www.hemastravels.com

http://www.mrrr.lk/(Ministry of Relief Rehabilitation & Reconciliation)

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