Nelun Harasgama has
been drawing and painting since childhood at Cora Abraham’s
Art College. Later on, she received a degree in visual communication
from the University of Trent, Nottingham, England, and took her
talent into advertising. At present, she continues her painting
career and has had several solo as well as group exhibitions. Her
first solo exhibition was in 1994 at the Lionel Wendt Gallery. Subsequently,
she has exhibited at venues such as Heritage Gallery which was an
active gallery from 1997 to 1998, providing a space for young innovative
artists to hold exhibitions. Her more recent solo exhibitions were
held at Barefoot Gallery. She also took part in the ‘Gang
of Seven’ exhibition at the same venue. She participated in
the first and second International Artists’ Camps and exhibitions
held in Sri Lanka in 1997 and 1998.
“I paint what I see. My subjects are usually things I believe
won’t be there for much longer. It makes me angry and sad,
not because things don’t remain the same in this changing
world, but because they were here before us and it’s where
we come from. We don’t have the right to cause so much destruction,
whether its the tank at Kandalama, an ancient Kumbuk tree, or
a woman in a crochet jacket and white cloth. We are on this earth
only as a part of it”- Nelun Harasgama, 1997.
