A medical practitioner by profession, Shanaka’s love for art runs deep in his veins, urging him to give expression through his portraiture by putting brush to canvas. He is particularly passionate about portraiture and figurative art depicting lifestyle and characters. His ability to capture emotion and his distinctive brush stroke are amongst his unmistakably unique hallmark, resulting in him becoming a champion portrait artist.
Apart from being a medical doctor his commitment and dedication to learning was ignited at Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts in Sri Lanka. His accomplishments are many. They include:
- The accolade in the professional category of the ‘SPECULO’ Art Exhibition organized by Sri Lankan Airlines in 2017
- Appreciations at the State Arts and Sculpture Festival in 2017 in the Portrait Category
- The State Trophy for the 1st place in the Poster Competition for Quality Control, Lucknow, India
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
- ‘Concealed’ held at the Lionel Wendt Gallery in 2017
- ‘Soul Windows’ held at the Lionel Wendt Gallery in 2021
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
- 2008 Pehesara Art Exhibition; Lionel Wendt Gallery.
- 2010: Sithru Art Exhibition, Lionel Wendt Gallery.
- 2011 Anguru: an exhibition of charcoal drawings, Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts.
- 2013 Annual show, Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts.
- 2005 to 2018: Kala Pola- Annual Art exhibitions, Goerge Keyt Foundation.
- 2012 – 2018: Sri Lankan Art, Goerge Keyt Foundation.
- 2019 -Exhibition of paintings “Ceylon Dutch Burger heritage”, Sydney, Australia
AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS
- He was a part of an Artist Exchange Program/ Exhibition where he visited Ningxia, China. It was organized by the Chinese Cultural Center in Colombo.
- He participated in the international painting exhibition of Artists for Peace from Ancient Civilizations titled ‘Diverse Civilizations, Shared Road’ in Bishkek; Kazakhstan
- His work was featured at the 2020 International Artists Exhibition and workshop in Bhubaneswar, India.
Work displayed at Artist’s studio and gallery : Piliyandala
