My artistic practice is situated within the field of contemporary visual art and it is focused within the methodology of conceptual art. Here, when one considers conceptual art, it primarily means that, within my practice, the conceptual framework within which I make certain works of art is more important than the material execution when creating the artwork. Presently, the most important focus of my artistic practice is within the field of traditional craft and traditional visual practices. I use traditional practices as a medium in which I create my conceptual visual artworks.
When creating conceptual artworks, the methods and visual aesthetics found in traditional visual practices are often a thematic base for the creation of conceptual artworks. I often transform the methods and aesthetics that traditional craft and traditional visual practices use, and through conceptual transformation, I make new artworks which are governed by new conceptual frameworks. These conceptual transformations of both traditional methods and traditional aesthetics are of my own creation and the importance of these conceptual frameworks always outweighs the importance of the material execution of any artwork.
The primary intention behind the creation of my conceptual artworks is to give the viewer new perspectives in which historical situations can be understood. The artwork I create is intended to give a new lens to the viewer in order to understand and reinterpret historical situations. Here, the historical past, historical present, and historical futures are all intended as thematic subjects which my conceptual artworks conceptually address. I use traditional craft and traditional visual practices in order to address certain historical conditions. Through the employment of transformed traditional visual practices as a methodology, I strive to give new perspectives and new interpretations on historical conditions.
Traditional craft and traditional visual practices, the frameworks of which, once transformed, form a crucial methodological foundation and provide a base from which I can develop a conceptual framework in which historical conditions can be reinterpreted and understood from a new perspective. I employ these traditional visual practices not as static references to heritage, but as active conceptual frameworks through which historical conditions can be critically examined. By subjecting traditional methodologies to the processes of conceptual transformation, I intend to provide re-contextualization and reinterpretations of historical conditions in order to understand historical conditions anew.
My journey in the visual arts began in childhood, when I spent much of my time drawing and painting. During high school, I further developed my technical skills, continuing as a largely self-taught artist. Drawing and painting were my primary interests growing up, which led me to pursue formal studies in visual arts in college. I undertook my studies at Bennington College in Vermont, United States, where I received a rigorous, multidisciplinary education in the visual arts which included studies in drawing, painting, digital art, ceramics, sculpture, and architecture.
At Bennington, as a small liberal arts college, the emphasis of education was multidisciplinary. Therefore, I not only studied visual arts but also pursued courses in the sciences, such as mathematics and biology, as well as in the social sciences, including anthropology, economics, political economy, and history. My explorations in these fields provided a foundation for conceptual inquiry within the visual arts. I began approaching visual art through analysis and conceptual development rooted in the sciences and social sciences, and this method of inquiry laid the groundwork for my engagement with conceptual art.
Following my studies in the United States, I undertook further academic training in Graphic Design at Asia e University in Malaysia. This program provided advanced technical training in digital arts, enabling me to develop a high level of proficiency in digital tools, software, and contemporary digital production techniques. Beyond technical proficiency, the program offered a structured platform for critical exploration of digital visual practices, encompassing both illustrative work and projects grounded in conceptually driven frameworks.
I am based in Colombo, Sri Lanka and can be contacted at the following email address: