ROHAN
K U M A R A
530 West 25th Street, New York, NY
Rohan Kumara was born in Sri Lanka and was adopted by a Dutch family shortly after. Growing up, he experienced severe trauma and was diagnosed with autism at the age of twenty. His artistic journey began under the loving guidance of his art therapy teacher, who encouraged him to process his emotions through drawing and painting. “I hope you feel bad” she coddles him “because that’s when you make your best art.” Kumara’s artwork possesses a strikingly raw quality; its anguished cries of pain are like chalk screeches on a blackboard: so loud and strident we almost have to cover our ears. Using a combination of acrylics, pastels, inks, oils, and charcoal, Kumara crafts abstract compositions alternating collage, thick markings, and expressive brushstrokes. When figures are visible, they are placed at the center of the piece, fighting back against what appears to be a cascade of stalactites or swords. They triumph in the end, true to Kumara’s spirit “All my freedom was taken away from me, but never, ever have I given up.” Kumara resides in Diemen, Netherlands. He was awarded the Rabobank Art Award in 2015 and was nominated for the Gelderse Art Award in 2016. He counts several exhibitions in Amsterdam and is slated to exhibit in Lisbon at Colorida Art Gallery in February 2022. His painting “Keep the Calm in the Chaos” will be auctioned off at the Netherland America Foundation, in New York, in November 2021.
ROHAN KUMARA ON
Burn Baby Burn, 2022 Mixed Media on Canvas 31.5” x 31.5” $1550 B U Y O N A RT- M I N E . C O M
Crowded, 2022 Mixed Media Collage on Canvas 39” x 39” $1950 B U Y O N A RT- M I N E . C O M
Poker-face, 2016 Mixed Media on Paper 23.5” x 15.5” $950 B U Y O N A RT- M I N E . C O M
Guardian, 2022 Mixed Media Collage on Canvas 31.5” x 31.5” $1550 B U Y O N A RT- M I N E . C O M
Epiphany, 2021 Mixed Media Collage on Canvas 39” x 39” $1950 B U Y O N A RT- M I N E . C O M
Labyrinth, 2022 Mixed Media on Canvas 31.5” x 31.5” $1550 B U Y O N A RT- M I N E . C O M
Innocent Child, 2022 Mixed Media on Canvas 31.5” x 31.5” $1550 B U Y O N A RT- M I N E . C O M
Shelter Your Heart, 2022 Mixed Media on Canvas 39” x 39” $1950 B U Y O N A RT- M I N E . C O M
A New Day, A New Dawn, 2022 Mixed Media on Canvas 31.5” x 31.5” $1550 B U Y O N A RT- M I N E . C O M
The Crossing, 2016 Mixed Media on Paper 39” x 27.5” $1650 B U Y O N A RT- M I N E . C O M
A Day In the Forest Oil on Canvas 39.5” x 39.5” $1950 B U Y O N A RT- M I N E . C O M
Animal Farm Mixed Media on Canvas 39.5” x 31.5” $1750 B U Y O N A RT- M I N E . C O M
Waves of the Ocean Mixed Media on Canvas 26” x 26” $1300 B U Y O N A RT- M I N E . C O M
Calm After the Storm Mixed Media on Canvas 27.5” x 19.5” $1150 B U Y O N A RT- M I N E . C O M
Stand One’s Ground Mixed Media on Canvas 35.5” x 35.5” $1750 B U Y O N A RT- M I N E . C O M
Sunflowers Acrylic on Canvas 23.5” x 23.5” $1150 B U Y O N A RT- M I N E . C O M
Painting is an intensely personal journey for me. It is a cry for freedom that allows me to share what I cannot express in words. When I paint I get into a kind of trance and I let myself be guided by my emotions, abandoning all pain and fear. Looking at the empty white canvas, images, ideas, and dreams start to appear. A story comes alive in colors and movement and is narrated through acrylics, oils, charcoal, pastels, or inks. Often I discover only later the faces, the breeze, and hidden characters sheltering in the shadows. Although the outcome is often a surprise, it is always a faithful representation of my life and how I feel.
ORIGINAL ROHAN KUMARA ARTWORKS ON
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