Pala Pothupitiye is an artist that emerged with a unique sensibility for creativity as a member of the generation of the 90s Art Trend. Having graduated with a BFA in Sculpture from the University of Kelaniya in 2002, Pothupitiye has since displayed his art in locally and internationally acclaimed platforms based in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. In 2010, he was awarded the Sovereign Art Asian Prize, signalling his artistry as unique and politically charged. Pothupitiye’s chosen mediums of art and expression are mainly sculpture, installation art and painting. He is currently based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and is a member of the Theertha Artists’ Collective. Pothupitiye’s artistic style and vision are best described by him: “my artistic energy tends to explore a number of interpretations on identity within a discourse of ancestry, tradition, authenticity, urbanity, Geo-politics and dynamics of contemporary art practices.” His practice has evolved significantly over time since his entrance into the contemporary art scene of Sri Lanka.
Coming from a modest family background in Deniyaya, he utilizes Sri Lankan traditional craftsmanship to devise his works inherited from his father who was also a craftsman. Pothupitiye is recognized as an artist who aesthetically engages with the discourses surrounding ancestry, tradition, history, urbanity, authenticity, geo-politics and the dynamics of contemporary art practices when laid alongside traditional practices. In his early works included in Ancestral Dress and My ID he delves into the notion of caste and the discriminatory oppression imposed on people of lower caste, drawing inspiration from traditional motifs of costuming in the local thovil subculture, presenting them in his presence of modernized inheritance. Pothupitiye is aware of his as well as his country’s postcolonial identity and attempts commentary in these early works about resisting foreign influence while preserving nationality and cultural heritage. Referring to the manner in which the colonialists claimed territory and plundered the wealth and land of the locals, Pothupitiye said, “the rich legacy of our ancestors was wiped away because it was seen as backward and uncivilized. The colonizers wanted to replace it with their own systems of knowledge to make us feel deficient and inferior.” Using motifs of traditional craftsmanship to artistically reimagine his postcolonial existence, Pala slowly developed an artistic identity for himself, which he delved into soon after the end of the civil war.