Asmar Atham's (b. 1989, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. Lives & works in Batticaloa) works engages with the paddy field as a living archive, and the artist transforms observations of labour, memory, and survival into a visual meditation on ecological and social continuity. His work reflects the precarity of seasonal cycles and the delicate systems that sustain human and non human life alike. In contrast to war centred readings often applied to artists from the eastern region, his practice treats land as a site of cultivation and ritual care. Using acrylic on paper, he constructs narrative sequences where rice operates as a connective scroll, and elephant tusks, husks, and trunks appear as recurring symbols. A dominant red ground unifies the imagery, producing an embroidered, illustrative surface that evokes continuity and collective memory.
Trained in painting in India, the artist has exhibited internationally and currently serves as a Lecturer at the Eastern University of Sri Lanka.