Muné
Born in 1950
A lover of nature, 64 year old
self taught painter Munasinghe has created an entire environment of sculpture,
paintings, installations and plants at his home in the ancient town of Kurunegala. Since he left
school Mune has dedicated his life to art. His home, “The Shrubbery” is a
permanent exhibition of a continuous work in progress
Drawing influences from his
environment, Mune has created an oasis of art and nature, one being inseparable
from the other.
In 1992 Mune held an exhibition
in Ibbagala (on a Rock shaped like a Turtle) entitled “Mune Male Netha” (Mune’s
Not Dead yet). The first of its kind in
the region the exhibition used nature as its gallery with paintings hung from
branches, whilst musicians performed and visitors took a tour through the trees
to see the work.
It subsequently became a major
inspiration in creating the “The Shrubbery”, a space for all young artists and
art lovers to come and learn about art and be with nature. “ The shrubbery” is
a small forest that he built on a rock in the middle of Kurunegala is his life
time work of Art.
To be the only painter in the
family and in Kurunegala, where resources for art were limited, it was a
struggle from the beginning for Mune to live as an artist. In spite of the difficulties he has lived and
worked as an artist for forty five years.
In the beginning, his
paintings reflected the realities of the poor and marginalised, for example a
monk walking on crutches collecting alms, a man begging and a cycle repair man.
The truth of his paintings comes from
careful and thoughtful composition and colour choice.
Other pieces use recycled
materials such as one of the sculpture ‘Thinking Man’. He has used wire and a
broken water heater. The water heater
his heart and the wire used to depict an empty stomach.
His later paintings use more
colour and humour but at the same time still depict the realities of our
society.
