Artist Chandana Ranaweera uses a unique medium to bring to life many of his themes and concepts – the ballpoint pen. Working within different themes, the artist portrays gods and goddesses in various postures. They are not traditional images of divinity often seen at kovils and temples.
Constantly, influenced by nature, the artist sees trees in clusters and different shapes. He looks at the moon and sees its reflection in the water.
As several of his drawings portray, Ranaweera is also fascinated by traditional drummers and Kavadi dancers. He visits temples and devales – where he invariably sees traditional drummers – in search of material and inspiration for his drawings.
Beginning in 1991, Ranaweera has been holding solo exhibitions of his creations almost annually. Although he could not hold any exhibition abroad, Ranaweera sent his entries to foreign exhibitions held in India, Bangladesh and Japan. Some of his drawings were bought by art lovers in France, England, Singapore and the United States. In 1994, one of his drawings was published by the United Nations. Ranaweera has also won many awards at art competitions held locally.
