Leah Marikkar talks to visiting artist Robert Sedgley about his watercolour marvels, painting in the street and sitting quietly in galleries…
Why Sri Lanka and how did you end up exhibiting your work here?
Well five years ago, this is my sixth visit, we came to visit a friend of our who works here as a nurse. She lived in the same village that we live in and when we were here we went to Kandy and met an artist named S.H. Sarath and became great friends. And we were mesmerised by this beautiful country. Sarath organised my first exhibition here in his studio, which was three years ago, and then I got to meet a few architects who wanted me to exhibit my work at the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects and I did that as well. I mainly paint figures but as I kept visiting Sri Lanka [my work] evolved into more [depictions of] buildings.
How did you come to be exhibiting at Barefoot?
Barbara [Sansoni] came to my second exhibition and she was taken with my work and asked me to come and show my pieces at The Barefoot Gallery, and that's when I met Dominic and Nazrine and really just took off from there.
Your situation is quite unusual considering you have no real ties in Sri Lanka but you keep coming back to paint and exhibit. Does this affect the way you paint?
It does affect my work, yes, the more you do the more you evolve. I was not seriously a watercolour artist until I started visiting Spain eleven years ago. I used oils mostly. I used to teach holiday painting courses to British people who would go to Spain and France and these tourists would bring watercolours with them and I realized I should probably learn how to use them. Since then I use far more watercolour now, and now that I think about it , [working in] oils [would mean] a bit more pressure; because I am painting for an exhibition that determines a lot - the time frame is more restrained. I came to Sri Lanka about a month and a half ago with five paintings and for the present exhibition at the gallery there are twenty-six paintings.
Your paintings give such a feeling of movement and your use of perspective is very much complimented by your use of light, when standing in front of your paintings its almost as if one has to turn a switch on and the scene would move as if frozen before.
Yes, that's exactly what I wanted to achieve with my work, especially the pieces I painted here. My intent is to indicate a passage of time and the feeling of movement and how the light changes in the one scene, but is not necessarily how natural light would fall. Also in one of my paintings I repeated a figure of a woman twice in the same scene and I like doing that… not many people notice it, but then they don't take the time to really look at art. I put more details in the local pieces and the colours are far richer. I like giving my paintings quirky titles which give a feeling of fluidity - like Passage and Small Journey.
It is interesting that you mention people not taking the time to really appreciate art, and as an artist this is a fundamental part of the process of your work, do you think people are bored with simple yet detailed art?
People don't have enough time to appreciate much, they are always rushing around; and the thing is: paintings don't move, they don't even make a noise - that is their quality. [With a painting] you have to give it time, to watch it and see it properly and then come back again and again to really understand the piece and the artist. I see people walking past my work and sometimes I don't really know if they are looking at the pieces with enough time and attention. The gallery in general also has to be an isle of tranquillity, enough quiet and silence to fully enjoy a piece of art. But to be honest I really believe that nowadays a lot of people don't like to be alone and need noise and rush around them to feel secure.
So what plans for you then?
On the 13th of March I'm going home but I will be back here next year around the same time. I really can't get away from here - it's like my second home with so many friends and I love Kandy, we even go back to the same guest house every year.
You have travelled extensively in Sri Lanka, has the scenery you you experienced influenced your plans for your next series of work?
Yes, I am very keen to do more hill country paintings, there is such a feeling of space and beauty that I want to capture it in larger paintings. I have some smaller pieces at this exhibition but I feel I want to work on them in more detail. I went to Nuara Eliya by train once and it was absolutely stunning and I want to express that.
Robert Sedgley is a British artist. He works in oil and watercolour and ceramic sculptures. The current exhibition entitled 'Trading Places' highlighting his interest in depicting shops, stores and commercial outlets in Sri Lanka will run till the 4th. March 2003 at the Barefoot Gallery.
Well five years ago, this is my sixth visit, we came to visit a friend of our who works here as a nurse. She lived in the same village that we live in and when we were here we went to Kandy and met an artist named S.H. Sarath and became great friends. And we were mesmerised by this beautiful country. Sarath organised my first exhibition here in his studio, which was three years ago, and then I got to meet a few architects who wanted me to exhibit my work at the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects and I did that as well. I mainly paint figures but as I kept visiting Sri Lanka [my work] evolved into more [depictions of] buildings.
How did you come to be exhibiting at Barefoot?
Barbara [Sansoni] came to my second exhibition and she was taken with my work and asked me to come and show my pieces at The Barefoot Gallery, and that's when I met Dominic and Nazrine and really just took off from there.
Your situation is quite unusual considering you have no real ties in Sri Lanka but you keep coming back to paint and exhibit. Does this affect the way you paint?
It does affect my work, yes, the more you do the more you evolve. I was not seriously a watercolour artist until I started visiting Spain eleven years ago. I used oils mostly. I used to teach holiday painting courses to British people who would go to Spain and France and these tourists would bring watercolours with them and I realized I should probably learn how to use them. Since then I use far more watercolour now, and now that I think about it , [working in] oils [would mean] a bit more pressure; because I am painting for an exhibition that determines a lot - the time frame is more restrained. I came to Sri Lanka about a month and a half ago with five paintings and for the present exhibition at the gallery there are twenty-six paintings.
Your paintings give such a feeling of movement and your use of perspective is very much complimented by your use of light, when standing in front of your paintings its almost as if one has to turn a switch on and the scene would move as if frozen before.
Yes, that's exactly what I wanted to achieve with my work, especially the pieces I painted here. My intent is to indicate a passage of time and the feeling of movement and how the light changes in the one scene, but is not necessarily how natural light would fall. Also in one of my paintings I repeated a figure of a woman twice in the same scene and I like doing that… not many people notice it, but then they don't take the time to really look at art. I put more details in the local pieces and the colours are far richer. I like giving my paintings quirky titles which give a feeling of fluidity - like Passage and Small Journey.
It is interesting that you mention people not taking the time to really appreciate art, and as an artist this is a fundamental part of the process of your work, do you think people are bored with simple yet detailed art?
People don't have enough time to appreciate much, they are always rushing around; and the thing is: paintings don't move, they don't even make a noise - that is their quality. [With a painting] you have to give it time, to watch it and see it properly and then come back again and again to really understand the piece and the artist. I see people walking past my work and sometimes I don't really know if they are looking at the pieces with enough time and attention. The gallery in general also has to be an isle of tranquillity, enough quiet and silence to fully enjoy a piece of art. But to be honest I really believe that nowadays a lot of people don't like to be alone and need noise and rush around them to feel secure.
So what plans for you then?
On the 13th of March I'm going home but I will be back here next year around the same time. I really can't get away from here - it's like my second home with so many friends and I love Kandy, we even go back to the same guest house every year.
You have travelled extensively in Sri Lanka, has the scenery you you experienced influenced your plans for your next series of work?
Yes, I am very keen to do more hill country paintings, there is such a feeling of space and beauty that I want to capture it in larger paintings. I have some smaller pieces at this exhibition but I feel I want to work on them in more detail. I went to Nuara Eliya by train once and it was absolutely stunning and I want to express that.
Robert Sedgley is a British artist. He works in oil and watercolour and ceramic sculptures. The current exhibition entitled 'Trading Places' highlighting his interest in depicting shops, stores and commercial outlets in Sri Lanka will run till the 4th. March 2003 at the Barefoot Gallery.