Yohan Medhanka is twenty-one years old. He is a self-taught artist who at his young age has a skill and intensity that is uncommon in artists with no formal education in fine art. In the few weeks since his paintings have collected in our gallery, waiting to be hanged in this exhibition, they have captivated each person that looks upon them. There is something incredibly real in the work of this young painter. His faces tell a story, while his technique merges oil painting with contemporary colours and concepts. Many artists have connected with the North in postwar Sri Lanka, often travelling there to mentor or to conduct workshops. For Medhanka, it just took one visit to captivate him. And after what seems to have been a three year journey from painting to meditating and back, he has emerged with a powerful series of portraits that prove to us that young Sri Lankan contemporaries still have what it takes.

Image: © Yohan Medhanka, Saskia Fernando Gallery