Renuka Pillai

She was born in Kandy, Sri-Lanka and knew from childhood that she loved being creative.
At the age of 19 she was selected and enrolled in the Addis Ababa University - Alle school fine Art and Design, she graduated 4 years later with a BFA in painting.
In 1993 she was accepted into the University of Montana, in 1996 she graduated with an MA in Art. She has since then taken several workshops in painting with well known artists. She studied under artist Jeremy Lipking, Timothy J Clark and Master Artist David Leffel.

STATEMENT
My artwork is expressive and colorful, my goal is to give the viewer an emotional experience when viewing each painting. My foundation in academic realism influences the recurrent themes in my paintings which may be landscapes, portraits, human figuratve paintings or still-life arrangements employing realism as an unifying ideal.
Furthermore, I have worked in abstraction, working as a minimalist and then using symbolic derivatives as an abstract expressionist to explore broader narratives.
My work at times happens to explore an imressionistic tendency.
The diverse subject matter addressed in my work is connected with a common regard for beauty, atmospheric tone and the timelesness of artistic expression....

Addis Ababa fine Arts School- BFA in painting
University of Montana-MA in Art

1985- BFA Thesis Show, Addis Ababa City Hall, Addis Ababa Ethiopia (June)
1985- An exhibit with a colleague, at the Yugoslav Cultural Institute, Addis Ababa Ethiopia (Dec)
1986- One Person Show, The American Embassy, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia- July
1989 Group Exhibit, The National Museum Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (November) On the occassion of the formation of the PDRE or the People Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
1989- One Person Show, Exposition Renuka, The Alliance Ethio-Francias, Addis Ababa Ethiopia (November)
1991- One Person Show, Elanders Tryckeria, Kungsbacka, Sweden (September 9- 27)
1991 Group Exhibit of 100 artists, The National Museum , Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (March)
1996- The Real and the Sureal, Bojangles, 103 E Main, Missoula Montana, 59801 (Oct 1- 31)
1996- Victims of War, MA Thesis Exhibit, The Gallery of Visual Arts, The University of Montana, Missoula MT 59801 (Dec 5-19)
1996- Exhibit of Twenty-Four African Artists at the Skoto Gallery of African Art, 25 Price Street New York, NY 10012 (Sept 25- Oct 27)
1997- Roots Rituals and Spirituality, A Multicultural Exhibition held at the Finegood Art Gallery in Bernhard Milken Jewish Community Campus, 22622 Vanowen Street, West Hills, California 91307 (Sept 14- Nov 9...