| Raja Segar | |
|---|---|
Segar in 1997. |
|
| Born | 4 December 1951 Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Residence | Horton Place, Colombo and Ja-Ela Estate,Ja-Ela, Sri Lanka |
| Occupation | Artist, Sculptor,and speaks English, German, Sinhalese,and Tamil |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Style | Refractive effect in paintings |
| Spouse | Wijeyashanthinie (born1966-died1996) |
| Children | Spinndonna (born 1992) Donnavann (born 1994) |
D.RajaSegar(1951-) known as Segar, is a Sri Lankan artist and sculptor. A self tutored artist born on 4th Dec 1951 in the suburb of Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. After schooling at St Michael's College, Polwatte, Colombo-3 at the age of 19, he started working in a soft drinks manufacturing company in the field of acountancy.While studying for his accountancy examinations he spent most of his time in the reference sections of the British Council library in Colombo.There he was able to browse through a collection of books and periodicals on art and artists.In his news paper interviews he always states;British Council was my university of fine art.Monotonous work in the accountancy department started to bore him.Segar started to design his own greeting cards purely based on the day to day lifestyle of Sri Lankans. His cards became an instant hit as most of the greeting cards in Sri Lanka were copied from the paintings of western countries. The art lovers who saw his cards wanted him to make large paintings. Hence, comfortably he became a painter. To give his art a serious impact Segar started experimenting the refractive effect of light in his abstract and figurative cubism. He loves to work in watercolor, oil and mixed media. In sculpture he works in steel. He has had one man exhibitions in Australia, England, India [members.rediff.com] and Sri Lanka in addition to group exhibitions.Though his paintings on gods and religions were adorned by the art lovers, he remains an atheist. His art adorned in news papers, documentaries and periodicals including Reader's Digest[1] The Housing Scheme 1977 and The Buddha 1987 are the two famous paintings in his prolific career.
Major international exhibitions
One man exhibitions in Sri Lanka
Paintings, sculpture, architecture, and other forms of fine arts were used profusely in Sri Lanka, from very early times to express Buddhist ideas and sentiment. The exceptionally rich heritage of visual arts of Sri Lanka extends to a period that exceeds 2300 years, from the 3rd century BCE to the 21st CE. Paintings form a dominant component of this heritage. A spectacular collection of ancient sculpture and architecture further adorns the island’s culture. They are conspicuous elements of Segar's paintings on Sri Lanka and Buddhist culture.
Ancient secular paintings are of great aesthetic appeal. Most are considered as masterpieces of human creative ingenuity and imagination. The outstanding quality of these ancient paintings was a determining factor in the identification of World Heritage Sites of Sri Lanka by the UNESCO. According to the UNESCO, 1037 Buddhist temples with paintings older than a 100 years, have been discovered in Sri Lanka.
References on Raja Segar's art
Refraction not Reflection *[2]