Biography
VP. Vasuhan வாசுகன்
I was born in 1977 in the village of Alaveddy, in the Jaffna peninsula of northern Sri Lanka. South India and northern Sri Lanka are geographically close and share the same culture, language, and religion. As a result, they display many similarities in their folk arts.
I spent much of my childhood there with my grandfather, who was a farmer. It was during this period of my life that I found inspiration for Tha-Varam (Plants), an indoor and outdoor exhibition on the theme of nature, held at the Momijiyama Museum in Kagoshima, Japan, in 2016. A visit to the Museum of History in Tokyo also inspired me — particularly 4th-century sculptures — to work on Sri Lankan–inspired masks in earthy tones and to explore collage, a practice I continue to this day.
In my childhood village, I was immersed in traditional arts such as religious painting, embroidery, pottery, and kolam, all integral to daily life. In kindergarten, I learned to work with plant-based dyes. One of my series, titled Vill-Age, is inspired by these early memories, as is the live painting and music performance Vill-Age, created in collaboration with musician Emmanuel Coutris in Paris in July 2023. In Sri Lanka, art is a mandatory subject in education through to the baccalaureate. Art was given a special place at Mahajana College in Thellippalai, where I studied under my first drawing teacher, Mr. S. Thiagarajah. One classroom in the school was dedicated entirely to art.
At the end of 1990, I moved to Colombo due to the worsening ethnic conflict in my country. There, I studied at Hindu College under Mrs. Lalitha Nadarajah and Mr. Thayaparan. Life in the capital broadened my outlook. I visited local and international exhibitions, observed street artists, and discovered mural painting, especially depictions of mythical female figures such as the apsaras of Sigiriya, as well as batik. I continued to develop my watercolor techniques. I explored museums, fashion, the Sinhala language and culture, and encountered new urban and rural landscapes, along with traditional wooden masks used in ritual theatre and dance. These masks later inspired my first exhibition outside France, held in March 2011 at Maison de la Bourse in Saint-Pierre, Martinique, during the carnival. My paintings of masks were very well received in these islands, where the nature and cuisine remind me of home.
At the end of 1995, I moved to Nicosia, Cyprus, where I began my first semester of hotel management studies in March 1996. During this time, I met my teacher and mentor, Mr. Glyn Hughes — a Welshman, modern painter, and art critic. I studied and worked in his studio. He enrolled me in an art school in Kaimakli, where I became a student of Mr. Y. Yiannis, a Cypriot artist. I assisted Glyn in organizing several exhibitions and conferences and accompanied him on gallery visits across the island. In 1997, I participated in the group exhibition Hommage to French Painters 1900–1960 at the Melina Mercouri Hall in Nicosia, organized by the Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts (E.K.A.T.E.). I traveled to Israel, Palestine and Egypt, which deepened my understanding of Mediterranean civilizations. I began to explore Greek culture — its language, archaeology, and landscape.
I arrived in France in the spring of 2001 after receiving my diploma, which marked the end of my student visa. In my first year, I worked on the Île de Ré, on the French Atlantic coast. I then settled in Paris. As a refugee, and having only ever lived on islands before, life was difficult at first. The themes of exile and island life are central to my series Catamaran, inspired by navigation, migration, and displacement. The performance Catamaran — a symbolic raft — was staged at the Kreol West Indies Art Center in Saint-François, Guadeloupe, in December 2023 and culminated with the permanent installation of the work in the gallery garden, facing the sea.
In 2004, Mrs. Annick Sansoni organized my first solo exhibition, titled No Name, No Face. I have continued to exhibit in Paris and other French cities. From 2009 onward, I participated in visual arts workshops offered by the Art Department at the University of Villetaneuse, under the direction of Mr. Sylvain Gaudenzi, and took courses in documentary filmmaking. My application for refugee status was rejected four times before being accepted in January 2010. The suffering of my homeland weighs heavily on me — I was in anguish. This despair inspired the painting Faces and Masks. From 2016 to 2017, I studied ceramics in Paris in order to create masks using this medium.
From 2013 to 2016, in collaboration with Indian poet and writer Mr. Arvind Appadourai, I ran Le Salon Indien, a restaurant and gallery located near the Canal Saint-Martin in Paris, recognized by the Guide du Routard Paris in 2014 and 2015. More than 25 artists exhibited there. I held three solo shows in that space.
During the COVID lockdown, I experimented with new materials and techniques for my masks and explored Tamil calligraphy — the graphic richness of the alphabet of one of the world’s oldest languages. In 2021, through exhibitions, performances, and installations in Paris, I explored the interdependence of nature, civilization, displacement, ethnic conflict, and identity. My works come to life through materials collected during my travels — sand, seashells, driftwood, and spices from my hometown. A humanistic approach defines my visual aesthetic.
I spent much of my childhood there with my grandfather, who was a farmer. It was during this period of my life that I found inspiration for Tha-Varam (Plants), an indoor and outdoor exhibition on the theme of nature, held at the Momijiyama Museum in Kagoshima, Japan, in 2016. A visit to the Museum of History in Tokyo also inspired me — particularly 4th-century sculptures — to work on Sri Lankan–inspired masks in earthy tones and to explore collage, a practice I continue to this day.
In my childhood village, I was immersed in traditional arts such as religious painting, embroidery, pottery, and kolam, all integral to daily life. In kindergarten, I learned to work with plant-based dyes. One of my series, titled Vill-Age, is inspired by these early memories, as is the live painting and music performance Vill-Age, created in collaboration with musician Emmanuel Coutris in Paris in July 2023. In Sri Lanka, art is a mandatory subject in education through to the baccalaureate. Art was given a special place at Mahajana College in Thellippalai, where I studied under my first drawing teacher, Mr. S. Thiagarajah. One classroom in the school was dedicated entirely to art.
At the end of 1990, I moved to Colombo due to the worsening ethnic conflict in my country. There, I studied at Hindu College under Mrs. Lalitha Nadarajah and Mr. Thayaparan. Life in the capital broadened my outlook. I visited local and international exhibitions, observed street artists, and discovered mural painting, especially depictions of mythical female figures such as the apsaras of Sigiriya, as well as batik. I continued to develop my watercolor techniques. I explored museums, fashion, the Sinhala language and culture, and encountered new urban and rural landscapes, along with traditional wooden masks used in ritual theatre and dance. These masks later inspired my first exhibition outside France, held in March 2011 at Maison de la Bourse in Saint-Pierre, Martinique, during the carnival. My paintings of masks were very well received in these islands, where the nature and cuisine remind me of home.
At the end of 1995, I moved to Nicosia, Cyprus, where I began my first semester of hotel management studies in March 1996. During this time, I met my teacher and mentor, Mr. Glyn Hughes — a Welshman, modern painter, and art critic. I studied and worked in his studio. He enrolled me in an art school in Kaimakli, where I became a student of Mr. Y. Yiannis, a Cypriot artist. I assisted Glyn in organizing several exhibitions and conferences and accompanied him on gallery visits across the island. In 1997, I participated in the group exhibition Hommage to French Painters 1900–1960 at the Melina Mercouri Hall in Nicosia, organized by the Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts (E.K.A.T.E.). I traveled to Israel, Palestine and Egypt, which deepened my understanding of Mediterranean civilizations. I began to explore Greek culture — its language, archaeology, and landscape.
I arrived in France in the spring of 2001 after receiving my diploma, which marked the end of my student visa. In my first year, I worked on the Île de Ré, on the French Atlantic coast. I then settled in Paris. As a refugee, and having only ever lived on islands before, life was difficult at first. The themes of exile and island life are central to my series Catamaran, inspired by navigation, migration, and displacement. The performance Catamaran — a symbolic raft — was staged at the Kreol West Indies Art Center in Saint-François, Guadeloupe, in December 2023 and culminated with the permanent installation of the work in the gallery garden, facing the sea.
In 2004, Mrs. Annick Sansoni organized my first solo exhibition, titled No Name, No Face. I have continued to exhibit in Paris and other French cities. From 2009 onward, I participated in visual arts workshops offered by the Art Department at the University of Villetaneuse, under the direction of Mr. Sylvain Gaudenzi, and took courses in documentary filmmaking. My application for refugee status was rejected four times before being accepted in January 2010. The suffering of my homeland weighs heavily on me — I was in anguish. This despair inspired the painting Faces and Masks. From 2016 to 2017, I studied ceramics in Paris in order to create masks using this medium.
From 2013 to 2016, in collaboration with Indian poet and writer Mr. Arvind Appadourai, I ran Le Salon Indien, a restaurant and gallery located near the Canal Saint-Martin in Paris, recognized by the Guide du Routard Paris in 2014 and 2015. More than 25 artists exhibited there. I held three solo shows in that space.
During the COVID lockdown, I experimented with new materials and techniques for my masks and explored Tamil calligraphy — the graphic richness of the alphabet of one of the world’s oldest languages. In 2021, through exhibitions, performances, and installations in Paris, I explored the interdependence of nature, civilization, displacement, ethnic conflict, and identity. My works come to life through materials collected during my travels — sand, seashells, driftwood, and spices from my hometown. A humanistic approach defines my visual aesthetic.