Aacidrama, the winner of ARTRA's artist challenge under the category of digital arts, displays exceptional potential in the field of digital arts. What drew us to recognize Yesh Yathnake, the 20 year old artist behind Aacidrama, is the obvious visual appeal of his creations; Yesh's digital creations attract the eyes of the viewer instantly and succeed in keeping them captivated. With this distinct visual appeal is the accompanying depth of the creations. We celebrate Yesh for his artworks that are highly dense in terms of the messages they convey and the meanings, or rather the interpretations they entail. Not only do they appeal to the aesthetic in the consumer, but also invite them to explore and ponder along. We thus recognize Yesh Yathnake, applauding his creative potential and the aesthetic artistry.

His journey as an artist has a rather unique beginning; during his early days, he never thought that he would be a marked digital artist. “Since my experience in art subjects wasn't the greatest in school I never thought of myself as someone who will be good at it. I started this as a hobby, not knowing where I will end up.” Yesh says. He recalls how he has always been fascinated by digital arts. As his fascination gradually grew, he finally decided to create some artworks himself, thus bringing Aacidrama into life. "That's when I introduced myself to digital arts. I started learning the fundamentals of graphic designing mostly through YouTube and the Internet, and afterwards, I started my own Instagram page.” Yesh said. His journey as an artist took a leap when he decided to do a music podcast on Mixcloud. He decided to make his own music covers using his skills as a digital artist, “I thought of connecting both of these things, so I started making my own album covers for my music.” Since then, Yesh has been creating an array of artworks that bear evidence of his creativity and specialty, compelling us to celebrate him.

We believe that Yesh's specialty stems from his ability to provide the viewer with aesthetic and intellectual pleasure simultaneously. His artworks are of high caliber in terms of aesthetically pleasing of the eye. We celebrate his grasp of the color pallete that enables him to assemble different shades in one artwork in such a way that they manifest in perfect harmony. There is a certain sense of "spontaneity” in his artworks, a certain "freshness” that sprouts from the masterful fusion of colors, which we found highly admirable. The position of texts, images, and other components within the frames of the artworks further contributes to this visual appeal, resulting in a highly symbolic and appealing creation. What we found particularly worthy of celebrating is that Yesh's artworks do not simply offer aesthetic pleasure but also provide ample thought-provoking elements. All the components and the colors, in unity and individually, invite the reader to reflect, interpret, and make meaning. For example, Yesh's artworks inspired by the COVID 19 pandemic and the Easter Sunday attack are compacted with multiple elements depicting various colors, allowing complex and layered visual analysis all the while being eyecatching pieces of art.

“I believe that we are our art, it reflects who we are, what we believe, and how we perceive the world and ourselves in it. It is like putting our soul on a 2-D plane for people to see us.” marks Yesh. Indeed, an artwork mirrors the inner-self, making the artist open and vulnerable- a risk willingly taken. We found it admirable that Yesh takes this risk with love and passion, laying his heart and feelings bare in front of everyone. “Digital art is how I let out of my emotions, my feelings, and my ideas. This is my biggest escape from reality.” Yesh shared with us, emphasizing that digital art is something intimate to him. His artworks have been recognized by international artists and music producers; he recently designed a music cover for Briancid, an American musician.

There is diversity in his artworks. There is newness in his approach to the digital arts. How he applies his imagination to his craft is unique. How he presents his artwork as an aesthetic display is spectacular. We believe that Yesh’s creativity and talent as a digital artist culminate in remarkable artworks and we applaud his mastery as an artist. Undoubtedly, he secures a prominent position in Sri Lankan art scene, even at such a young age.

Social Media deatils
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aacidrama/
Mixcloud: https://www.mixcloud.com/aacidrama/