A Life in Lines: Tilak Samarawickrema's doodles captures the simple way of Sri Lankan life

Indian Express

27-05-2025

When your hobby becomes your profession, your work becomes your passion. Sri Lankan artist Tilak Samarawickrema could be the poster boy of the principle. His unassuming doodles scribbled over his nearly seven-decade-long career are the subject of his first-ever solo exhibition in India at Delhi's Gallery Ragini. Aptly titled 'Not Just a Doodle', it has been curated by Ina Puri.
The multi-hyphenate artist, now in his 80s, was primarily trained as an architect, under the tutelage of Geoffrey Bawa, one of Sri Lanka's most celebrated architects. Recalling his internship days at Edward, Reid and Begg, where Bawa was a co-partner, Samarawickrema says, 'It was at this time that Bawa and Plesner had just started their work at the Bentota Beach Hotel. It was very inspiring for a student like me.' It was followed by a scholarship by the Italian government to study architecture, design and art in Rome and Milan. He then went on to exhibit in galleries across New York, Melbourne and, of course, Colombo.
The most fascinating aspect about Samarawickrema's practice, however, is how his decorated resume is deceptive of his rather simple artistic style. For him, the heart was always where the home was; one that comprised his own people — the Sinhalese people. Their quotidian way of life was as much the centre of his practice during his time spent in Rome and Milan in the seventies, as they were integral to his creative endeavours as an architect, particularly when he started working with a family of weavers to create vibrant geometric tapestries in the 1980s.
Puri first saw Samarawickrema's work in the '90s at Colombo's Sapumal Foundation. 'Not very well lit or spiffy, the space drew me in, and Tilak's works there I thought were wonderful,' she recalls. Since then she has been following his practice on social media, until last year when she reached out expressing an interest to meet him. 'He said yes. And everyday I was in Colombo, I spent hours at his house. The otherwise recluse brought out his archives to show me. He is a national treasure in Sri Lanka,' Puri says.
'His tapestries are completely linked to his architectural practice. For them, he worked extensively with a weavers' collective in Sri Lanka. The drawings, on the other hand, are completely his making. They are also the foundation of his first animated film Andare. His dancing lines that stutter and move are so animated that you feel they might just jump off and start moving around,' says Puri, adding, 'His practice is a combination of different influences. When he goes to Milan, he is exposed to Western art and to paintings and cinema. He makes friends with important artists but what he exhibits even there, are images that come from his own country. I think the fact that he is not then influenced into making an oil painting, unlike many others, is interesting.'
The way Samarawickrema, who won the National Award for Architecture from the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects earlier this year, captures the extraordinariness of the ordinary is brought forth in a thoughtful curation. His doodles, done in black ink and placed on the gallery walls offer a refreshing contrast to the colourful tapestry works hung from the ceiling in the centre. The inevitable dialogue between the two mediums of expression creates multiple entry points into Samarawickrema's diverse practice.
An unmissable element of his doodles is the roundedness of his lines. The distinct elaborate curves add a bucolic air to his compositions that celebrate the subaltern. Take, for instance, Fishermen at Sea, which recreates a scene from the shore. With the men's enlarged heads topped with tiny hats, the piece is caricaturish in style but compelling in its clarity. Particularly amusing is Masked Dancers that greets the viewer at the entrance, and is the only coloured doodle in the collection. The work features two faces – a male and a female – facing each other appearing to be in an animated discussion. 'He is subversive, he is political. I don't want to get into his opinions about world leaders, including our own, but that wit and sarcasm comes across through in the drawings,' Puri says.