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Vol. 3 : Breathe
Connected to the ocean
South African-born artist and surfer Ricky Lee Gordon now calls Sri Lanka home. It is here where he became authentically himself
Summer 2021
Words by Narina Exelby Photography by Brant Fraser, Maike McNeill, Sabrina Schmid and Ryan Wijayaratne
It’s a breezy Sri Lankan afternoon when artist Ricky Lee Gordon clicks onto Skype. He’s on the veranda of his home studio – a sanctuary he renovated and crafted by hand – and a tropical wind is tugging gently at his hair. Behind him, wooden beams press a hypnotic pattern of palm fronds against ceramic roof tiles, and a squirrel scampers quietly across a truss. ‘This is my favourite place,’ he muses, as a breath of air rustles leaves. ‘This is home.’
Above In the studio where ‘the light filters off the ocean and beams into my house with warm, inspiring hues,’ Ricky’s dogs Soorya (sun) and Taru (star) are his ever-present companions.
It was a tangle of serendipitous events that steered the South African artist to what is now his peaceful island retreat in Nilwella, Sri Lanka. In 2015 Ricky left the creative agency he’d established in Cape Town to work full-time as an artist, and for the next four years he spent up to six months a year travelling and working on large-scale public murals. ‘It was really exciting – I had creative freedom and loved what I was doing,’ recalls Ricky, who’d moved to Los Angeles in 2016 to study classical drawing. ‘I didn’t, however, feel connected to my work. I didn’t have a studio practice, and I had this need to focus on my own work in a deeper and much more meditative sense.’
‘I already had a beautiful connection with Sri Lanka because five years before I’d spent time there in a monastery, deepening my meditation practise and studies in Buddhism.’ – Ricky
Left Through clever use of natural, raw materials and strategically-placed glass windows and skylights, light pours into Ricky’s beachside studio, creating a soothing sense of being one with the outdoors.
Above Through clever use of natural, raw materials and strategically-placed glass windows and skylights, light pours into Ricky’s beachside studio, creating a soothing sense of being one with the outdoors.
Then in 2018 Ricky was invited to a month-long artist’s residency in Bali. He slipped effortlessly into island living, learning to surf and adjusting to a rhythm of life that really resonated with him. Fast-forward six months and, after a second trip to Indonesia, Ricky made the call: he was moving to Bali to build his dream studio beside a beach.
Two weeks before he boarded the plane, however, a friend who’d once lived in Colombo phoned Ricky. ‘If you’re moving to Bali, why not move to Sri Lanka instead? The surf there is good…’
Below An essential quiver of artfully stacked surfboards are always available to grab for a paddle when the waves are good.
In a heartbeat, Ricky made the intuitive decision to fly to the island off the tip of India. ‘I already had a beautiful connection with Sri Lanka because five years before I’d spent time there in a monastery, deepening my meditation practise and studies in Buddhism,’ explains the artist. On his first day back in Sri Lanka, Ricky stumbled upon a small bay where, on the perimeter of a monastery, he saw a bodhi tree (Ficus religiosa, the species of tree under which Buddha reached enlightenment). Next to that was a fisherman’s house available for rent. Within a month Ricky had signed a contract for the property and started the six-month renovation of what would become Śūnyatā, his beachside home-studio.
Right An essential quiver of artfully stacked surfboards are always available to grab for a paddle when the waves are good.
Then in 2018 Ricky was invited to a month-long artist’s residency in Bali. He slipped effortlessly into island living, learning to surf and adjusting to a rhythm of life that really resonated with him. Fast-forward six months and, after a second trip to Indonesia, Ricky made the call: he was moving to Bali to build his dream studio beside a beach.
Two weeks before he boarded the plane, however, a friend who’d once lived in Colombo phoned Ricky. ‘If you’re moving to Bali, why not move to Sri Lanka instead? The surf there is good…’
In a heartbeat, Ricky made the intuitive decision to fly to the island off the tip of India. ‘I already had a beautiful connection with Sri Lanka because five years before I’d spent time there in a monastery, deepening my meditation practise and studies in Buddhism,’ explains the artist. On his first day back in Sri Lanka, Ricky stumbled upon a small bay where, on the perimeter of a monastery, he saw a bodhi tree (Ficus religiosa, the species of tree under which Buddha reached enlightenment). Next to that was a fisherman’s house available for rent. Within a month Ricky had signed a contract for the property and started the six-month renovation of what would become Śūnyatā, his beachside home-studio.
Above Simplicity is at the heart of everything at Śūnyatā. ‘It was to become a space that invited meditation, contemplation and creativity, and that instilled a sense of quiet.’
Right With his home studio right on the water, Ricky is able to spend his time creating art where he feels most at peace – on the beach. Here, he uses his own charcoal which he made from fallen branches of the bodhi tree that anchors his residence.
‘Getting things done in Sri Lanka is not easy,’ explains Ricky. ‘Sourcing building materials, labour and communicating were a challenge. It was very raw, but I loved the process because I got to work closely with local masons and carpenters and learnt a lot about the raw materials. I didn’t make any art while I focused on the house; instead, I treated that like an artwork.’ Ricky based Śūnyatā on the Buddhist concept ‘form is emptiness and emptiness is form’. It was to become a space that invited meditation, contemplation and creativity, and that instilled a sense of quiet. The handcrafting of Śūnyatā transformed Ricky’s approach to making art.
Below With his home studio right on the water, Ricky is able to spend his time creating art where he feels most at peace – on the beach. Here, he uses his own charcoal which he made from fallen branches of the bodhi tree that anchors his residence.
‘Getting things done in Sri Lanka is not easy,’ explains Ricky. ‘Sourcing building materials, labour and communicating were a challenge. It was very raw, but I loved the process because I got to work closely with local masons and carpenters and learnt a lot about the raw materials. I didn’t make any art while I focused on the house; instead, I treated that like an artwork.’ Ricky based Śūnyatā on the Buddhist concept ‘form is emptiness and emptiness is form’. It was to become a space that invited meditation, contemplation and creativity, and that instilled a sense of quiet. The handcrafting of Śūnyatā transformed Ricky’s approach to making art.
‘I decided to stop using store-bought materials, and to work with organic and natural pigments like charcoal, beeswax, rust and natural indigo dye.’ One day, in a moment of inspiration, Ricky gathered fallen branches from the bodhi tree and made his own charcoal. ‘Experimenting and working with this made me feel so much more connected to my materials – through the emotional connection I have to that tree, and my study of Buddhism – and my connection to the work was deeper, too. I wasn’t focusing on the outcome of what the picture looked like. Instead, I was focusing on giving reverence to the materials and the process.
‘I decided to stop using store-bought materials, and to work with organic and natural pigments like charcoal, beeswax, rust and natural indigo dye.’ One day, in a moment of inspiration, Ricky gathered fallen branches from the bodhi tree and made his own charcoal. ‘Experimenting and working with this made me feel so much more connected to my materials – through the emotional connection I have to that tree, and my study of Buddhism – and my connection to the work was deeper, too. I wasn’t focusing on the outcome of what the picture looked like. Instead, I was focusing on giving reverence to the materials and the process.
‘Before, I was trying hard to find ways to make my work unique, but when I gave up on that and chose to focus instead on my experience of creating it, my work became more meditative and slower, and my life started to simplify. It was the lifestyle I’d wanted.’
When Covid shut the world down, Ricky worried about the future of his art career – would opportunities to exhibit his work, paint murals and take on projects come to an end? After a few very anxious weeks he decided to stop worrying and instead appreciate the space he’d created, and to paint the ocean view from his house. One painting, every day.
‘I chose to stop focusing on the process and just let the process happen. It’s like the sensation of surfing – a real-time feeling rather than being strategic in the work. It was such a breakthrough because the process became harmonious; so easy and peaceful. I wasn’t struggling with the work or the outcome; I was focused on the materials and the way they felt on the canvas.’
‘I still have that sense of being a little bit nomadic.’ – Ricky
It’s been two years since Ricky has painted a mural – but that will change in early 2022, when he travels to Mexico City for a large mural project and an exhibition. ‘The pendulum has swung,’ Ricky admits. ‘When I was travelling a lot, I wanted the stillness of a studio. Now I’m really busy with commissioned work in my studio and I long to paint a mural. I’ve missed the excitement of receiving invitations to work in foreign places that I’d never even considered going to; and I’ve missed doing murals and that hustle and bustle of being in a city. I’m looking forward to Mexico – I still have that sense of being a little bit nomadic.’ For the time being, however, it’s a simple life of peace and meditation, quiet and surfing. And creating art from his view from Śūnyatā, from his experience of surfing those waters, and from the fallen branches of an old bodhi tree.
Follow Ricky Lee Gordon (@rickyleegordon.com) / (@rickyleegordon) to view his artworks. Śūnyatā is available for artist residencies by invitation only. For details see sunyatasrilanka.com
