Prominent Breakthrough of a Chartered Accountant

‘ Transformative art must express something beyond where you are, it demands that you grow beyond your current self. This is where an artist’s angst and the pain of transformation coincide. You reach toward the true, the good and the beautiful and become a better person through the struggle,’ – Allex Grey.

This quote especially highlights two things; if someone can go beyond to accomplish something that will inspire and transform yourself for better status; and that put you through in struggle, that adds unique value to your life and opens beautiful and meaningful movement to enjoy life.

In such a context, Susantha Galgodage develops his inner passion through his immersive dedication.

Susantha opened his heat about the passion for art and how he started to developed the subject for the first time to media. This interview was conducted virtually with the intention of exploring his artistic voice.

Q:

How did you develop an inner passion for art? and how has your background inspired you to develop it?

A: In my childhood, I was always passionate about drawing, and was reading weeklynewspapers, which inspired me to keep practicing art. There were no qualified art teachers in our school. I used to draw and sketch pictures without knowing the techniques. Eventhough I was keen on drawings and paintings, I selected commerce stream for A/L.

During my university studies, I started again to draw portraits, cartoons and landscapes. An Art and Crafting course was organized by the University Cultural Center for students who were interested in painting and crafting. I was fortunate to follow that and focused on ballpoint drawing. I had to keep practicing it for a while. Since my dream was to become a Chartered Accountant, I studied and worked for about seven years for my dream to come true. But I did not give up my inner passion and kept sketching eye-catching images and pictures when I had free time.

When I was working in Zimbabwe, I was walking along a road one day and saw an art gallery displaying beautiful paintings. I visited the gallery and bought a box of oil paintings. But I had no idea, how to use them. That was the starting point of my oil paintings. I searched for more information and techniques about oil paintings. No one was there to guide me, but I never stop practicing them. Afterwards, I met a few artists and learned the techniques. Self-study and practice gave me more inspiration to stand alone as an artist. Q

: Who encouraged you to pursue this?

A: There were many behind me, who appreciated and encouraged me in different ways. Artists such as Prageeth Rathnayake,

Shanaka Kulathunga and Buddhika Rangeewa taught me fundamental techniques of paintings. There guidance helped me to become better, therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to thank them all, for supporting me.

Q

: When observing your paintings, It describes that you are more passionate about wildlife and human figures especially in dancing acts. Is there any special reason?

A : There is no special reason for my work. You can see, I do not stick to just fine arts, and also move towards contemporary arts, and collage artworks. I try to use different materials that have significance to the subject matter like sea, sand, waste material and collage. I use them for contemporary artworks. However, I spend more time on paintings of wildlife and human figures. I believe that fine art is one of the most difficult areas than contemporary artworks.

Q

: Have you conducted or participated in an

exhibition or competition?

A: Yes, I participated in a few art competitions and won prizes during my schooling. I exhibit my paintings at “Kalapola” organized by John Keels Holdings, annually. I planned to hold an exhibition this year, but it was cancelled due to the prevailing COVID pandemic situation.