Having been offered a scholarship and the opportunity to study abroad, Sri Lankan artist Priyantha chose the UK to further develop his talent.

Priyantha’s childhood was blighted by his country’s civil unrest and it was these memories combined with his contemporary artistic flair that inspired him to produce his Phd entitled ‘Rediscovering Paradise - painting, representing and revision of identities’.

Speaking about his work, Priyantha said: “My art is a new form of landscape, one which exemplifies terror and beauty in one place. The viewer takes in a false sense of beauty before the revelation of the displaced sense of agonising beauty.

“The art deals with the day-to-day life where crisis has penetrated the norm and disrupts the perceptions of an idyllic place as portrayed in tourist brochures and promotional material.”

Priyantha has exhibited his work in both the UK and Sri Lanka, as well as in numerous international venues including The Cross Art Project in Sydney and the Lalith Kala Academy Gallery New Delhi.