ABOUT ARTIST

Inaje Dilshan Fernando is a Sri Lankan visual artist whose practice is grounded in Academic and Classical Realism. Trained at Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts, Sri Lanka, he developed a strong foundation in drawing, oil painting, composition, and the study of light, form, and space. His work spans still life, landscape, portraiture, political caricature, and conceptual experimentation.

Still life holds a central place in Fernando’s practice. His choice of objects is closely connected to his upbringing and personal history. His father was a fisherman, and Fernando grew up surrounded by the rhythms and environments of Sri Lanka’s southern coastal fishing communities. The sea, fishing equipment, boats, marine life, and everyday objects found in fishermen’s homes became part of his visual memory and continue to influence his work.

Shells, vessels, fabrics, tools, food, and kitchenware such as clay pots, metal pans, wooden spoons, cups, plates, and baskets appear throughout his still lifes. Familiar and often worn through years of use, these objects become quiet reflections of labour, family, care, and everyday life. Through them, Fernando transforms the ordinary into a meditation on memory, human experience, and the passage of time.