Artist Rajni Perera talks about her work at Surrey Art Gallery

Seated in front of the one of her dramatic paintings, the artist listens to audience questions. Paintings on display till March 15.

When I saw Rajni Perera’s remarkable Futures exhibition at the Surrey Arts Centre a few weeks ago, I wanted to hear today’s artist talk. Discussing her work, the artist commented that growing up in Toronto, she found the art exhibitions of the time limiting and Eurocentric. Remembering an image of Catherine the Great seen when she was a student, she noted how the queen’s opulent clothing and her stance looking down on the viewer embodied the oppressive visual language of empire.

Southeast Asians, she says, centre artistic expression in daily life. Rather than being relegated to “silos” of art galleries, where experts assess it through cold academic eyes, art is all around, expressed and enjoyed by the whole community.

At art school, she created her own curriculum to reflect the various immigrant aesthetics of her city: Buddhist influences from her native Sri Lanka, (thrice colonized by Europeans), as well as Rajput, Mogul, and Japanese styles. Pereira is also fascinated by mutation and adaptation in the natural world.

Asked by an audience member how long it took to produce one of her amazing paintings, she replied that she needed no preliminary drawings, and could complete a painting in 3 or 4 long days. “I am a portal,” she said. “Since the artistic expression comes through me, I know what it’s supposed to look like.”

More of her works can be seen in the photo section of this blog.