by Malinda Seneviratne Chandika Gunasekara titled his first solo exhibition ‘Malini’. That was the name he gave his second solo exhibition as well. Malini, he said, is the name of his late grandmother.
This was his way of paying tribute to the one who had influenced him the most and encouraged him to strive for perfection, Amarathunga Mudalige Malini Lila. ‘She brought me up. She could draw.
She drew excellent deva roopa (images of gods) and could make miniatures. Her husband, Chandika’s grandfather, a contemporary of S P Charles, was a well known artist in Matara. Hewapathirana Don Charles Dharmadasa, who passed away before Chandika was born, was a well known artist.
In fact, Chandika still has a certificate issued by the Ceylon Society of Arts in 1931 to Dharmadasa for coming first in the “Landscape or Seascape” in Oil Painting’ category at the Society’s 37th annual exhibition. ‘From at least the 1940s, year after year, he would create the famous ‘Dharmadasa Thorana,’ a giant pandal outside the Dharmadasa Studio in Matara. There were no lights back then and the pandals weren’t as massive as the ones we see these days, but they were quite ornate and highly detailed.
He used layers. His paintings could be described as localised expressions of classical European art styles. The themes draw from Buddhism but the European trace in style is unmistakable.
’ ‘It was my grandmother who taught me to take up a challenge. She always told me, “ mokak hari ek.