Vishmi Helaratne

INFO

NameVishmi Helaratne (they/them)
Also known asVishmi
Born1995
Country of BirthAotearoa
Place of ResidencePōneke Wellington
EthnicitiesSri Lankan (Sinhalese)
ArtformVisual arts
Decades Active2020s

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

Last updated: 29 February 2024 Suggest an Edit

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OTHER PHOTOS AND Ephemera

Photograph of a multi-coloured painting of different shaped characters sitting at a long rectangular orange table with several dishes of food.

Vishmi Helaratne, POT LUCK, 2021, moulding paste and acrylic on wood, 530x1010mm, exhibited in Kandy Road, play_station gallery

Photograph of a textured painting with different coloured characters on a yellow background.

Vishmi Helaratne, Amma , 2023, acrylic and acrylic mediums on board, 430x540mm, exhibited in ĀYUBŌVAN, Laree Payne Gallery

A photograph of a textured painting depicting a brown coloured hand spreading its fingers on a green decorated oval on a red surface.

Vishmi Helaratne, FINAL POSE, 2021, moulding paste and acrylic on wood, 1100x590mm, exhibited in Kandy Road, play_station gallery

A photograph of a textured painting with a blue background and different coloured characters standing in a line on a brown surface.

Vishmi Helaratne, SELF PORTRAIT, 2021, moulding paste and acrylic on wood, 1270x670mm, exhibited in Kandy Road, at play_station gallery and Astor Bristed, 2023

A photograph of a textured painting with a light blue background and a yellow character in the centre.

Vishmi Helaratne, Sādhu, 2023, acrylic and acrylic medium on board, 335x542mm, exhibited in ĀYUBŌVAN, Laree Payne Gallery