Art Lunch with Hema Shironi

Hema Shironi

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Hema Shironi (b. 1991, Kandy) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores cultural identity, memory, and belonging through embroidery, mythological imagery, and installation. Drawing from personal experiences of displacement and migration, she reflects on Sri Lanka’s complex histories of colonization and civil conflict. A graduate of Beaconhouse National University, Lahore (MFA, 2019) and the University of Jaffna (BFA, 2014), Shironi’s work has been exhibited internationally, including at the 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (Brisbane, 2024), the 13th Taipei Biennial (2024), and ZKM Centre for Art and Media (Germany, 2025). Her works are part of the permanent collection of the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA).
 

Hema Shironi’s assemblage of iron mesh pillars draped in patchworked fabric reflects Sri Lanka’s cultural and regional diversity. Each textile distinct in thread, motif, and color carries the stories of the communities it represents, revealing shared histories and subtle differences. Rooted in her own experience of moving across the island, Shironi’s work becomes both a personal and collective exploration of belonging, memory, and the layered identities woven through Sri Lanka’s past and present.