Segar (artist)

Segar (artist)

D.RajaSegar(born 1951) known as Segar, is a Sri Lankan artist and sculptor. A self tutored artist born on 4th Dec 1951 to poor parents in the suburb of Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka.He use to walk to school which was 5 km away from home to save bus fare so that he could eat something during the interval. After schooling at St Michael's College, Polwatte, Colombo-3 at the age of 19, he started working in a soft drinks manufacturing company in the field of accountancy.While studying for his accountancy examinations he spent most of his time in the reference sections of the British Council library in Colombo.There he was able to browse through a collection of books and periodicals on art and artists.In his news paper interviews he always states;British Council was my university of fine art.Monotonous work in the accountancy department started to bore him.Segar started to design his own greeting cards purely based on the day to day lifestyle of Sri Lankans.

His cards became an instant hit as most of the greeting cards in Sri Lanka were copied from the paintings of western countries. The art lovers who saw his cards wanted him to make large paintings. Hence, comfortably he became a painter. To give his art a serious impact Segar started experimenting the refractive effect of light in his abstract and figurative cubism. He loves to work in watercolor, oil and mixed media. In sculpture he works in steel.He has had one man exhibitions in Australia, England, India and Sri Lanka in addition to group exhibitions.Though his paintings on gods and religions were adorned by the art lovers, he remains an atheist. His art adorned in news papers, documentaries and periodicals including Reader's Digest In 1988 he attempted suicide as a result of failed love affair but changed the idea as he thought of more than 20 of his unsigned paintings. In 1996 Segar had his 19th solo exhibition in Colombo and donated the sales proceed of more than US$5000 to the Neurosurgery Trust Fund of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka, in the year which his wife Vejeyashanthinie 29 years, died of brain stem cancer. The Housing Scheme 1977 and The Buddha 1987 are the two famous paintings in his prolific career.He lives in a house architectured by Minnette De Silva. This house conceived from Segar's imagination when he was 12 years old.

Read more about Segar (artist):  Exhibitions, Sri Lankan Art and Segar's Work