Sujeewa Kumari

About

Sujeewa Kumari Weerasinghe (b. 1971) is a highly accomplished Sri Lankan contemporary artist whose interdisciplinary practice spans drawing, painting, and mixed media. Her recent works engage deeply with de-realised memories drawn from history, tradition, and everyday life, forming an artistic synthesis of new cultural images. Her practice explores how personal and collective memory can be reimagined through visual language, opening dialogues between past and present, reality and fiction. Her works on paper fluidly combine physical and mental sensations to express poetic and emotional narratives.

In 2019, her unique vision was recognized internationally when she was selected as one of the Top 30 finalists for the prestigious Sovereign Asian Art Prize. Her works have been featured on significant national and international platforms across Asia and Europe.

Education

• 2004: MFA | Interdisciplinary Research Visual Arts and Media | Dutch Art Institute, The Netherlands.
• 2002: AKI / Art EZ Academy of Visual Arts and Design | The Netherlands.
• 1998: BFA | Institute of Aesthetic Studies | University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.

Appointments

• 2025: Founding Member and Director of ART RHIZOME - Artist Run space.
• 2005 – Present: Visiting Lecturer, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

• 2020: Time Map | Paradise Road Galleries, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
• 2017: Iconophile | Saskia Fernando Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
• 2016: Performance | Obliteration | Nallur Hindu Tamil Girls School, Jaffna, Sri Lanka.
• 2016: Performance | Obliteration | Galle Town Hall, Galle, Sri Lanka.
• 2014: Tinted Narratives | Saskia Fernando Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
• 2012: Forgotten Dream | Paradise Road Galleries, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
• 2010: Lichfield Passage | Project Space | Wolverhampton Art Gallery, United Kingdom.
• 2004: Living Sculpture | Gampaha Train Station, Gampaha, Sri Lanka.
• 2003: Skin of the White Tea Bags | Scheveningen, The Netherlands.

Selected Group Exhibitions

• 2019: One Hundred Thousand Small Tales | The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Sri Lanka.
• 2019: Finalist Exhibition | The 2019 Sovereign Asian Art Prize | Hart Hall and H Queen's, Hong Kong.
• 2018: Dhaka Art Summit 2018 | Bangladesh.
• 2017: Return in Search of Stillness | Sciences Gallery | Summer Hall, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, United Kingdom.
• 2016: Colombo Art Biennale 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
• 2013/2014: Garden of Eden | Shalini Ganendra Fine Art, Malaysia.
• 2010: Between Kismet and Karma: South Asian Woman Artists Respond to Conflict | Leeds Art Gallery, United Kingdom.
• 2010: Artful Resistance: Crisis and Creativity in Sri Lanka | Museum of Weltkulturen, Frankfurt, Germany.
• 2008: Artful Resistance: Crisis and Creativity in Sri Lanka | Museum für Völkerkunde, Vienna, Austria.

Awards & Grants

• 2019: Selected for Top 30 Finalists | Sovereign Asian Art Prize, Hong Kong.
• 2018: Shortlisted for the Sovereign Asian Art Prize 1st prize - Feminism and Sri Lankan Female Identity, PIF, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
• 1999: Prize winner and selected for the Winsor & Newton Worldwide Millennium Painting Exhibition, London, Stockholm, USA.
• 2010: Artist Residency Programme | Wolverhampton Art Gallery, United Kingdom.
• 2004: Art Residency Program and Exhibition | Nanjing Art Institute, Nanjing, China.
• 1995/1996: Recipient of G.S.A. Fernando, L.T.P. Manju Sri, and J.D.A. Perera Awards | Art Department, Institute of Aesthetic Studies.