A lifetime of Intuitive Art: Rukmini Attygalle’s Debut Exhibition ‘Transitory Lives’ Celebrates a Lifetime of Intuitive Art

As the saying goes, ‘there is a time for everything’. For Rukmini Attygalle, a former UK civil servant, that destined time has arrived at age 88. Attygalle is finally sharing some creations from her extensive multi-decade portfolio in her debut solo art exhibition, Transitory Lives.

“The title Transitory Lives refers to the impermanence of life, the cycle of birth, suffering and death as accepted by Buddhists”. explains Attygalle “The cycle exists because of birth, human desires, attachments and ignorance. The life force is bound by these and this is what has inspired my work... the continuing rhythms of life that bind humans to the Samsaric continuum of life”.

For Attygalle, public recognition was never the driving force behind her work. "The truth is, that exhibiting my art was never a priority in my journey," she explains. "I painted because it gave me pleasure to do so. If others liked my paintings, it was a bonus. I just felt a need to express myself through art, and was not looking for anyone’s approval".

Though she has painted since childhood, her formal artistic training began in earnest following her retirement from the UK Civil Service in 1996. She completed a Diploma in Art and Design at Croydon College in the UK, which sparked a period of serious, dedicated painting starting in 1997.

Despite accumulating a massive body of work over the subsequent decades, it was only after her return to Sri Lanka in 2019 that she was finally persuaded to exhibit. Encouragement from Mrs. Nisreen Amiruddeen – artist and art teacher, ceramic artist Asela Gunasekera, and a definitive nod from renowned art critic and collector Suresh Dominic, ultimately clinched the deal to bring her art to the public eye.

Attygalle’s work is distinctively fluid, refusing to be bound by a single artistic identity. “I love to experiment with different media, and with each media my “style” seems to change. Actually, I don’t want to be hemmed within a framework of one particular “style”.

This fearlessness stems from a rich lineage of mentorship. At just seven years old, she studied under Cora Abraham at the Melbourne School of Art, an instructor who praised Attygalle's childhood painting of an orange elephant under a red sky. Later, at Bishops College, she was mentored by Swanee Jayawardene, a prominent member of Sri Lanka's legendary '43 Group. Jayawardene introduced her to the works of masters like Van Gogh, Gauguin, Monet, and Georges Rouault, the latter leaving a lasting impression on Attygalle's visual language.

Her exposure to the '43 Group also brought subtle influences from Richard Gabriel and George Keyt, while her later diploma printmaking thesis on Emil Nolde heavily shaped her stark, evocative woodcuts, such as her piece “Reflection”.

Transitory Lives focuses on capturing the emotional weight of fleeting moments, bridging the gap between Attygalle’s visual art and her published writing, such as her short story collection Of Sarees and Grapefruits. However, she notes that her creative process varies drastically between the two mediums. "Personally, I think writing demands much more thought, structure and refining," Attygalle says. "It is much more difficult to write than to paint. I start writing with a clear idea of what I want to say and then decide how best to say it... In my art, there is less clarity about my intention or the result I want to achieve. There is less planning and intuition plays a major role in my art".

This raw, subconscious intuition is perfectly captured in her two favourite featured works, Supplication and The Outcast. The former is a mono print created completely intuitively without any prior planning or sketching. Through this piece, she beautifully captures a deep sense of devotion and the joy of prayer, utilizing bright yellow tones to highlight the lightness, calm, and compassion arising within the women's hearts.

The woodcut titled The Outcast, similarly abandoned her standard practice of meticulously pre-drawing every line on the wood block. Instead, Attygalle cut straight into the timber, letting her subconscious guide her tools to reveal a powerful, raw image of a man rejected by society due to physical disabilities and appearance. Attygalle’s debut stands as a powerful testament to the timeless nature of human expression. She firmly rejects the idea that aging diminishes one's capacity to create, noting that some of her best paintings have been produced recently. "My advice to older people or anyone who wants to write or paint - don’t make age a barrier to your creativity," she shares warmly. "Creativity is not age limited. If you can hold a brush or a pen, just use it to express yourself. Your creations will bring you joy and satisfaction if nothing else. Age has its own advantages. The older you get the less bothered you become of other people’s opinions and judgement".

Transitory Lives invites viewers not just to look at art, but to bring their own perceptions, memories, and imaginations to the work on display, matching the deep empathy that Attygalle poured into every single brushstroke and woodcut. The exhibition is open from 23^rd to 29^th October at Curado Art Space, 302, Park Road, Colombo 5.