A third eye view of art

Artist and aesthetic scholar Champanie Devika Devaraja talks to Fine on how her paintings have developed over the years and also of her experiences in China as a student 

Champanie Devika Devaraja, the artist and poetess is familiar to The Nation readers due to her contributions. Her paintings of light colors and human-like figures with no facial features accompanied by the few lines of poetry accompanying the painting have been her signature for decades. She picked up the style in China while studying there on a scholarship. “This style is called ‘Scholars’ Paintings,” she said. “I came across some erudite people who could paint and write poetry to accompany the painting. There was philosophy in what they drew and in their poetry,” she said. “I could paint and write poetry. I too had a philosophy. I too have things to say and I realized that this is the ideal style for me,” Champanie added. She also said that she had practiced this style even before she got to know that it had actually been an ancient Chinese traditional art. She refers to her painting style as ‘lyrical paintings’ (Kawya Sithuwam).

Champanie said that she has been keen on aesthetic subjects since her very young days. In school, she studied art, music and dance and when she was in grade seven, she was sure that ‘Art’ was the subject she should follow for the Ordinary Level Examination. Although she had not been taught how to draw formally, she was encouraged by her father. As a kid, she was allowed to draw on the walls of her home and her father secured these wall paintings until she reached age ten without color washing the house. “Dancing and music didn’t allow me to enjoy what I did. I could enjoy my paintings after I drew them. Though I was twelve, I knew that I should be able to enjoy my work. Therefore selecting art as a subject was only natural,” she recalled. She said just as art, poetry too came to her naturally when she was a child.

She chose aesthetic subjects for the Advanced Level Examination too. “I could have chosen science stream. But I chose art. It was a headstrong decision that no one agreed with me,” she said. However securing good results from her Advanced Level Examination she qualified to enter Kelaniya University from St Paul’s Girls College, Kelaniya to follow a degree in Fine Arts. Before she commenced her aesthetic studies at St Paul’s College, she went to Biyagama Balika Vidyalaya to receive her primary education.

At the university she held too exhibitions and made a mark as the first female to hold a solo art exhibition at Kelaniya University. She was also awarded the Best Artist of the Year award at Kelaniya University in 1982. “My first exhibition was held in 1982 on my 21^st birthday,” she reminisced. “I followed various styles as a student, but I was mature enough to develop a style of my own by the time I completed my Master’s degree,” she added.

While Champanie was at the University she was awarded a scholarship by the Chinese government to learn Chinese at the Beijing Language Institute. In China she also followed an advanced art course at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in China in 1988 and later completed her Master’s degree in Fine Arts from the same academy. “In China I gained practical knowledge on painting. Although I had the skills, I didn’t know how to use these skills, practically,” she explained.

Most of her paintings depict an idea parallel to the Buddhist philosophy. Light colors and the Bo leaf identified with her paintings is the symbol of philosophy which she admires. “Buddhism is nature. We call it Buddhism because Buddha taught it to us. What I draw is nature and therefore is naturally becomes a Buddhist theme,” she explained.

Champanie also said that art is the best method to free and relax the mind. “I can’t describe the freedom and relaxation in words. I believe art can challenge a person’s Karma,” she opined. “Painting is a solo art and a form of meditation. There is no internal talk within the mind when you draw and the mind gradually becomes calm and quiet while you engage deeply in your painting,” she added.

She further explained how painting works as a relaxation technique. "If a person starts scribbling or drawing when he or she is angry or sad, that disturbing feeling will go away," she said. "This person doesn't need to have a talent or be a professional. Just a pen or a pencil and a paper will help." She also said that using colors to express themselves is a helpful technique too. When a person uses colors, the colors he uses is a subconscious selection relevant to the mood. A completed drawing gives an insight into the painter. "Its common to great artists as well as a normal human being," she reiterated. "I usually practice this method with my students once in a while. Its very effective," she shared her personal experience.

Transcendent (Uththarana) is her 18^th Solo Art Exhibition. Her pervious exhibitions including ‘Mandala’ in 2012, ‘Divine Eye’ (Divasa) in 2009, ‘Felicitation’ (Bethipuda) in 2007 and ‘Third Eye’ in 2005 were successful events. Speaking about the paintings included in Transcendent she said that all the paintings included in the exhibition reflects her own style which she has followed since 1990. However, she said that she notices a development in her style. “It’s what I see when I look at myself from a distance,” she said. “When I started to follow this style, the figure was female. There were no visible boundary lines, the figure would float materializing from a thin line and ending in a cloud,” she explained. “This female figure has disappeared now. I suspect this has happened because my egoism is diminishing,” she said. “I feel that I don’t give priority to myself as I used to.”

In 2011, Champanie published the book, Mandala along with the exhibition of the same name including painting of Mandalas. A mandala is a complex abstract design that is usually circular in form and Mandala is the Sanskrit word for ‘circle’. According to her, the book Mandala is her experience about the orbs which can be seen in the pictures taken from digital cameras. The book was published based on her research findings about these orbs and it’s the first book written on this subject. “These orbs are what you see in some digital camera pictures. According to the book Thibbatha Malapotha (Maranaya Pilibanda Widyawa Hewath Thibbatha Malapotha) when we die our energy (Vignana Dathuwa) finally forms into an orb before it moves to another life. This influenced me to write the book and hold an exhibition about Manadala,” she explained.

She also said that those paintings exhibited in the Mandala exhibition were blessed with Jaya Piritha. “My attempt was to introduce the concept of benison (Asiriwada), to show that we can get blessings from the seen as well as what’s unseen,” she emphasized. She also said that she believes that the figures in her paintings could be the astral body. Many philosophers have posited about the astral body, intermediate between the intelligent soul and the mental body, composed of a subtle material. “It’s not the physical body I draw. I believe that it is something from the unseen world,” she iterated. Although the subjects of her paintings lack eyes, nose and mouth, ears are visible. She said that the ear represents the balance between the seen world and the unseen world. “Its not predictable, but the ears might also disappear in a future exhibition,” she said. She also mentioned that she can’t be certain about the development of her style because it happens unconsciously.