Unspoken | Kanesh Thabendran

UNSPOKEN KANESH THABENDRAN

UNSPOKEN KANESH THABENDRAN 19.10.23 – 30.11.23 Unspoken oscillates between documentation and commentary. Kanesh Thabendran offers a journalistic insight into the changing political, social and economic environment of Northern Sri Lanka through a combination of techniques that permit him to alternate between truths: visible, perceived and imagined. The artist employs a combination of digital manipulation, photo-cutting and collage techniques to alter photographs. In the process, he attempts to spell out realities that would otherwise remain unnoticed and forgotten.

Bullets, helmets, and tombstones appear in Thanbendran’s work with a persistent multiplicity, serving as a haunting reminder of the countless deaths and constant military presence. Images of places with historical and touristic interest are warped and distorted, as they become sites of traumatic memory. The clipart-like quality in the artist’s work underscores the mundane frequency and constant presence of conflict with a subversive irony. It comments on a scathing reality that has become a way of existence.

Altering and transforming the original image by incorporating cut outs from other photographs becomes a way through which the artist presents additional information than that which meets the eye. Weaving in strips cut out from photographs, on the other hand, allows the artist to present parallel and interconnected images with an obscurity that comments on years of unresolved issues.

Thabendran’s work attempts to challenge existing narratives. Through his work, the artist notes the shortsightedness of developmental projects initiated in the region since the end of the Civil War. His work questions their motivation, and the extent to which the interests of the local inhabitants have been taken into consideration. Furthermore, it comments on issues that have continued to persist for years without a sight of resolution.

Unspoken is an objective take by the artist on the relationship dynamics between the state and the people in Sri Lanka’s North. Informed by the lingering memories of Sri Lanka’s Civil War and acute observation of the impact of state intervention, Thabendran’s work offers alternative perspectives, offering insight into experiences that are as personal as it is collective.

Kanesh Thabendran, 2023, Home, Mixed Media on Paper, 31cm x 45cm

Kanesh Thabendran, 2023, Tunein in, Mixed Media on Paper, 31cm x 45cm

Kanesh Thabendran, 2023, Thirst, Mixed Media on Paper, 31cm x 45cm

Kanesh Thabendran, 2023, Trace, Mixed Media on Paper, 31cm x 45cm

Kanesh Thabendran, 2023, Gloomy - II, Mixed Media on Paper, 76cm x 121cm

Kanesh Thabendran, 2023, Capture, Mixed Media on Paper, 76cm x 121cm

Kanesh Thabendran, 2023, Convey, Mixed Media on Paper, 76cm x 183cm

Kanesh Thabendran, 2023, Weaving - l, Mixed Media on Paper, 21cm x 14cm

Kanesh Thabendran, 2023, Weaving - II, Mixed Media on Paper, 21cm x 14cm

Kanesh Thabendran, 2023, Weaving - lll, Mixed Media on Paper, 30cm x 21cm

Kanesh Thabendran, 2023, Weaving - IV, Mixed Media on Paper, 30cm x 21cm

Kanesh Thabendran, 2023, Transpose, Mixed Media on Paper, 31cm x 61cm

Kanesh Thabendran, 2023, Defend, Mixed Media on Paper, 41cm x 30cm

Kanesh Thabendran, 2023, Untitled - l Mixed Media on Paper, 41cm x 30cm

Kanesh Thabendran, 2023, Untitled lll, Mixed Media on Paper, 41cm x 30cm

Kanesh Thabendran, 2023, Untitled lV, Mixed Media on Paper, 41cm x 30cm

Kanesh Thabendran, 2023, Walk, Mixed Media on Paper, 45cm x 31cm

KANESH THABENDRAN b.1988 EDUCATION 2015

Bachelor of Fine Arts ( Specialized in Art & Design), University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka

GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2018 2017 2017 2017 2016 2015 2013 2013

Island mentality / Saskia Fernando Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka First Human rights Art festival curated by Arts council | JDAPerera Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka RE/EVOLUTION | Colombo scope, Art culture and Environment, Colombo, Sri Lanka RETURN - In search of stillness |Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Summer Hall, London Conceiving Space | Colombo Art Biennale, Colombo, Sri Lanka Seven Conversations | Saskia Fernando Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka KALAITHUTHUKALAMUTTAM| Jaffna, Sri Lanka Exhibition conducted by Department of Fine Arts | University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka

SASKIA FERNANDO GALLERY