Visakha Wijeyeratne
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Visakha Wijeyeratne | |
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| Born | Visakha Bulankulame March 17, 1935 |
| Died | 13 April 1999 (aged 64) |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Spouse | Tissa Wijeyeratne |
| Children | Kalpana, Ravana |
Visakha Wijeyeratne (Sinhala: විශාකා විජයරත්න, née Bulankulame) (17 March 1935 – 13 April 1999) was a Sri Lankan artist, painter, sculptor, writer and social worker. Her husband, Tissa Wijeyeratne, was a politician, diplomat, barrister and businessman.
Early days
[edit]Visakha Wijeyeratne was born at Sirimedura, Horton Place Colombo 7 to Dr Edmund Ashoka Bulankulame and Ivy Dunuwille Senenayake. She was the fourth in a family of seven and spent her childhood in Anuradhapura.[1][better source needed]
Education
[edit]She schooled at Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya and Newstead Girls College, Negombo.[1] Her post-secondary education was in Agriculture, Farming, Art History, Art and Foreign Languages. She followed these areas of study and practice over a period of seven years at the Farm School for girls in Kundasale,[1] the Heywood Institute of Art, at the Alliance Francaise, Goethe Institute and at the Russian Cultural Centre.
Artistic career
[edit]
Wijeyeratne's artistic style was post-impressionistic in oil on canvas, using primarily a yellow ochre base colour and building up layers.
In the 1960s, she learnt embroidery whilst living in St. Gallen, Switzerland. [1] When she came back to Sri Lanka, she started to revive Sinhala embroidery, teaching others.[1] Her inspiration was a book by Ananda Coomaraswamy, Medieval Sinhalese Art.[1] This work provided employment for village women.[1]
Wijeyeratne continued to paint, but had to change to using styles which art buyers preferred.[1] She made copies of works including the 1815 portrait of Rangamma, a consort of Sri Vikrama Rajasinha of Kandy.[1] She was commissioned in 1981 to paint President Junius Richard Jayewardene.[1]
She spent four years in Paris as the wife of the Sri Lankan ambassador, and sold work during that time.[1] Those who bought her work included politicians Helmut Schmidt and Jeremy Thorpe, and Devi Sukarno of Indonesia.[1]
Social and charitable work
[edit]Wijeyeratne carried out social work as part of the Inner Wheel Club of Kandy, affiliated to Rotary International.[1]
Family
[edit]Tissa and Visakha Wijeyeratne had two children.[1][2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rajaguru, Gayathri (17 March 1935). "Appreciations: Portrait of a remarkable lady – artist, writer, social worker and diplomat's wife". The Sunday Times, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
- ^ French Embassy opens Consulate in Kandy. Daily FT (Sri Lanka), Retrieved on 15 October 2015.