Anju Perera
Painting · Pattern · Colour
Lives and works in Kandy, Sri Lanka
Biography
Anju Perera is a Sri Lankan artist and designer whose practice is rooted in pattern, rhythm and colour. The work begins with close looking: the veins of a leaf, the weave of a textile, the ornament on a doorway, the small details of everyday life that most people pass by. Rather than reproducing these patterns, Perera reimagines them, distilling the familiar into abstract compositions that feel at once ordered and alive.
The making itself is slow and meditative. Built by hand, mark by mark and dot by dot, each surface accumulates through repetition until a quiet rhythm emerges. That process carries its own emotional weight: a search for balance and calm, and a way of finding order and meaning amid the noise of daily life. The finished works ask for the same unhurried attention from the viewer.
Perera's path to art has been an unconventional one. Trained in law and later working as a researcher, Perera kept a studio practice alive alongside professional life for many years, going on to study graphic design before turning to art and design full time. The discipline of that path remains visible in the work's structure and precision, held in tension with the freer, organic forms drawn from nature.
Moving fluidly between painting and design, Perera continues to build a visual language in which pattern becomes a personal way of seeing, and of interpreting the world.
Artist Statement
My practice revolves around my fascination with patterns and colour. I am drawn to the intricate patterns I encounter in nature, textiles, architecture, everyday objects, and the small details that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Rather than simply recreating what I see, I use my imagination to transform these patterns and colours into something more abstract and personal. I experiment with shapes, repetition, colour combinations and intricate detail, allowing familiar elements to take on a different form.
Through my work, patterns become a way of exploring how I see and interpret the world around me, turning ordinary visual inspiration into abstract, imaginative compositions.
Education
LLB (Hons) Law
Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom
Pearson BTEC HND in Art and Design (Graphic Design)
AMDT School of Creativity