INFO
Name | Vishmi Helaratne (they/them) |
Also known as | Vishmi |
Born | 1995 |
Country of Birth | Aotearoa |
Place of Residence | Pōneke Wellington |
Ethnicities | Sri Lankan (Sinhalese) |
Artform | Visual arts |
Decades Active | 2020s |
ABOUT
Vishimi Helaratne is a Te Whanganui-a-Tara-based painter who uses colour and texture to create three-dimensional forms on flat wood surfaces. Applying successions of numerous blobs, dots, and waves all placed very close together, they construct texturally complex colourful landscapes and figures. To create their compositions they mix moulding paste with different paints and pigments, and use a piping bag to apply the mixture — an apt tool as their connection with cooking and food is significant to their art.
Growing up in a Sri Lankan home, the main form of creativity that they witnessed regularly was the construction of a meal, made up of several different dishes that all contribute their own flavour, texture and colour to the overall dining experience. Helaratne’s experience as a chef amplified an interest in culinary experimentation, while simultaneously feeding their passion for painting as another visual format.
They playfully approach a wide range of subject matter from temples, to dining tables, to good names for cats. They draw from their experience of everyday cultural hybridity, being a Sri Lankan New Zealander, taking inspiration from a range of sources like the intricate beading of saris, the icing on the elaborate birthday cakes their mother makes, and the bright colours and various sculptural elements of Sri Lankan temples. As they explain, we learn to trust our own hands; we feed ourselves with our hands and create with them too.
They graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the College of Fine Art and Design at the University Of New South Wales in 2018.
LINKS
Key works / presentations
2023 — WORK FROM HOME, Page Galleries, Pōneke
2023 — Āyobōvan, Laree Payne Gallery, Kirikiriroa
2023 — Up Top, Drive Thru Gallery, Pōneke
2022 — KANDY ROAD, Page Galleries, Pōneke
2021 — KANDY ROAD, play_station gallery, Pōneke