Alakhshya: Unseen Dimensions of Consciousness
Colombo will witness an extraordinary journey into the intangible with the upcoming solo exhibition Alakhshya: One that cannot be perceived by Druvinka Puri, the Sri Lankan-born artist who has spent decades in the Himalayas as a practicing sadhu, at Barefoot Gallery. The opening preview is on Thursday, March 5, 2026, from 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM, and the works will be on view from March 6 to 28, open Monday to Saturday from 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM.
Puri’s work has always resisted simple description. Her paintings are meditative landscapes of consciousness, where colors whisper and layers of paper and paint create spaces that feel both intimate and infinite. The title Alakhshya gestures toward what cannot be seen or captured, a reminder that reality is more than the eye can register. Each piece is a reflection of the questions that have driven human inquiry for millennia: what is consciousness, what is the nature of existence, and what lies beyond the fleeting self.
Born into a family of artists in Sri Lanka, Puri seemed destined for a life in art. She studied at Visva Bharati Shanthiniketan in West Bengal, India, the renowned institution founded by Rabindranath Tagore, where she refined her craft while absorbing the philosophy that underpins much of her work. Yet her art is never merely formal. It is intuitive, guided by decades of personal meditation, ritual, and spiritual practice. Living in the Himalayas, Puri has embraced the life of a sadhu, exploring the esoteric and occult traditions of India. This dual grounding in rigorous training and spiritual immersion gives her work a rare quality. Her paintings are disciplined yet mysterious, precise yet fluid.
The larger canvases in Alakhshya are composed of pale greys, muted blues, ochres, and sepia. Each layer is translucent, like a memory or a breath, slowly revealing hidden depths. Nepali bamboo paper is mounted onto canvas in a compartmentalized structure, each section a reflection of karma, a visual meditation on the unseen forces that shape human life. To stand before these works is to be invited into a quiet space where time seems suspended and the mind opens to contemplation. Questions emerge naturally as one moves from panel to panel, layer by layer, and the viewer is encouraged to linger, to reflect, to see what cannot be seen.
In contrast, Puri’s smaller pieces are intimate explorations of religious symbols and landscapes from her life in India. These works are more immediate yet no less profound. They capture the textures of sacred spaces, the shapes of rituals, and the quiet, often unnoticed patterns of devotion. In them, Puri bridges the personal and the universal, offering glimpses into a spiritual geography that resonates with her own journey while inviting others to contemplate their own inner landscapes.
Barefoot Gallery has been an enduring collaborator in Puri’s career. She was one of the first artists exhibited by the gallery, and their relationship has spanned more than twenty years.
This longstanding partnership has allowed Puri to pursue a deep and continuous engagement with her practice, producing work that is both experimental and consistent in its philosophical rigor. The gallery describes her oeuvre as a persistent inquiry into consciousness, a search for visual forms that can embody the intangible and the eternal.
There is a stillness to Puri’s paintings that is rare in contemporary art. They do not demand attention through spectacle or ornamentation. Instead, they invite viewers to slow down, to enter into a dialogue with the canvas. The soft layers of color, the subtle textures of paper, and the careful arrangements of space all contribute to a meditative experience. The viewer becomes aware not only of the image but of the act of perception itself. Seeing becomes a practice, a way of attuning oneself to the mysteries that lie beyond ordinary awareness.
Alakhshya also carries an implicit dialogue with history and culture. Puri’s Sri Lankan origins, her education in India, and her current life in the Himalayas situate her work at the intersection of multiple worlds. She draws from the aesthetic and spiritual traditions of South Asia while making art that speaks to universal questions of consciousness and existence. In this way, her work is both deeply local and expansively global, rooted in personal experience yet open to interpretation by anyone willing to enter her visual world.
The exhibition title reflects a central theme of Puri’s career: the unseeable, the ineffable, the subtle structures of being that cannot be grasped by the senses alone. Alakhshya is not a call to understand in conventional terms but an invitation to experience, to feel, and to contemplate. It is a reminder that much of what matters in life is beyond immediate perception, and that art can offer a bridge to that unseen domain.
Critics have noted that Puri’s paintings are almost like portals. One might linger in front of a larger canvas and feel a sense of quiet immersion, as if stepping into a landscape that exists somewhere between memory and imagination. The smaller pieces, by contrast, draw one closer, inviting careful attention to detail and subtle interplay of symbols and textures. Across all scales, her work encourages reflection on the self, the cosmos, and the invisible threads that connect them.
This exhibition continues Barefoot Gallery’s mission to provide a platform for artists who explore unconventional ideas and challenge audiences to think differently. It is expected to draw both seasoned collectors and newcomers, offering a space where art and contemplation meet. For Colombo, it is a unique opportunity to witness an artist who has spent a lifetime cultivating a dialogue between vision, intuition, and spiritual practice.
Druvinka Puri’s career is defined by patience, depth, and an unwavering commitment to inquiry. Her work reminds us that the pursuit of understanding, whether through science, philosophy, or creative expression, is central to the human experience. Alakhshya: One that cannot be perceived brings this pursuit to the foreground, offering viewers a rare chance to encounter the invisible and contemplate the profound. Her paintings ask questions rather than provide answers, inviting each viewer to discover their own understanding.
In a world often dominated by speed, spectacle, and immediacy, her work is a quiet, persistent reminder that the deepest truths are found not in noise but in careful attention, reflection, and stillness, inviting viewers to contemplate the mysteries at the heart of existence.
Exhibition Details
- Opening Preview: Thursday, March 5, 2026 | 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM
- On View: March 6 - 28, 2026 | Monday to Saturday | 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM
- Venue: Barefoot Gallery, Colombo
