Emergency | A Group Show: Nadia de Los Santos, Hanusha Somasunderam and Mika Tennekoon
We have observed a strong emergence of young artists working in diverse mediums in the past five years. Their backgrounds vary from design fields, universities across the island and expatriates whom have made Sri Lanka their home. The works of these three female artists hold at it’s core the practice of drawing that has evolved into different materials and forms. Hanusha Somasunderam studied at the University of Jaffna and has exhibited her work in group shows locally and internationally. Her work documents the strife of the tea pluckers of Sri Lanka and her first hand experiences of growing up enthuse environment. In all her work she incorporates materials and imagery used in the industry to bring further attention to the struggle of these women and their families. Mika Tennekoon studied at the Academy of Design and later Santiniketan. She began working with illustration and graphic design while gradually moving towards drawing and painting. Her medium varies from paper taken from old ledger books, to canvas and installation. The themes of nature, mankind, feminism and spirituality have a resounding presence throughout her body of work. Nadia de Los Santos is originally from India and settled in Sri Lanka as a teacher at the Academy of Design. In her work she gives meaning to originally mundane objects in an effort to acknowledge the process of an expatriate adapting to new environments and cultures. She often chooses to work on a smaller scale to enable the mobility of her pieces as she moves around the world and the subject matter revolves strongly around her life as an expatriate. In this particular series of work Nadia focuses on typical chairs as a symbol of home and comfort, transforming her line drawings into direct translations of wire wall sculptures.
Saskia Fernando 2017
EMERGENCY
A Group Exhibition
by Nadia de Los Santos, Mika Tennekoon & Hanusha Somasunderam
16.03.17 – 10.04.17
Saskia Fernando Gallery presents the galleries first group exhibition for 2017 with three female artists. This series of exhibitions titled ‘Emergency’ highlights the emerging talent that exists in the island with artists whose work stems from a core practice of drawing. The three artists’ work blend and contrast to create a diverse presentation of varying mediums and themes. The exhibition will continue until 10 April 2017 and is open to the public daily from 10am to 6pm.
Nadia de Los Santos, originally from India and now based in Sri Lanka, series of drawings and wall sculpture of chairs. ‘Most of my work prior to this dealt with the transitory nature of ‘home’; the objects and paintings created were easily portable so one could just take it with them and make the new place feel like their old one or their idea of home’ states Nadia, ‘These are a collection of my impermanent feelings made permanent. A memento to the little things we overlook.’
Mika Tennekoon, a Sri Lankan artist now completing her studies at Santiniketan in India, worked on a series of paintings on old ledger paper and board depicting Mother Earth in varying surrounding. Mika references the writing of John Trudell in her pieces - ‘The Earth is our mother, we must take care of her.’
Hanusha Somasunderam studied at the University of Jaffna and now works from her hometown Hatton. Her work is entirely dedicated to highlighting the strife of tea pluckers in the tea industry of Sri Lanka. As the child of a tea plucker her early years were spent in the nurseries of line houses. In the body of work she uses the pay slips and compressed tea strainers as material on which she illustrates the stories. ‘My art is a representative of my society (…) A respectable wage that is still out of sight after heart breaking efforts for generations, a life without the basic human needs and a troublesome childhood with so many barriers,’ says Hanusha.
Saskia Fernando Gallery presents the galleries first group exhibition for 2017 with three female artists. This series of exhibitions titled ‘Emergency’ highlights the emerging talent that exists in the island with artists whose work stems from a core practice of drawing. The three artists’ work blend and contrast to create a diverse presentation of varying mediums and themes. The exhibition will continue until 10 April 2017 and is open to the public daily from 10am to 6pm.
Nadia de Los Santos, originally from India and now based in Sri Lanka, series of drawings and wall sculpture of chairs. ‘Most of my work prior to this dealt with the transitory nature of ‘home’; the objects and paintings created were easily portable so one could just take it with them and make the new place feel like their old one or their idea of home’ states Nadia, ‘These are a collection of my impermanent feelings made permanent. A memento to the little things we overlook.’
Mika Tennekoon, a Sri Lankan artist now completing her studies at Santiniketan in India, worked on a series of paintings on old ledger paper and board depicting Mother Earth in varying surrounding. Mika references the writing of John Trudell in her pieces - ‘The Earth is our mother, we must take care of her.’
Hanusha Somasunderam studied at the University of Jaffna and now works from her hometown Hatton. Her work is entirely dedicated to highlighting the strife of tea pluckers in the tea industry of Sri Lanka. As the child of a tea plucker her early years were spent in the nurseries of line houses. In the body of work she uses the pay slips and compressed tea strainers as material on which she illustrates the stories. ‘My art is a representative of my society (…) A respectable wage that is still out of sight after heart breaking efforts for generations, a life without the basic human needs and a troublesome childhood with so many barriers,’ says Hanusha.