Sharmini Wirasekara

Artist Statement

Transitioning from the business world to being a full time artist has been a gradual process.

I have always loved the process of making art. Since following a course in off-loom beadweaving in 1997, creating beadwoven art has been my focus and passion.

Beads and beadwork have been around since ancient times. In recent years, bead art created with a modern twist on age old techniques has been growing as a visible contemporary art form.

I create ornamental works in the form of wall art, sculptural objects, and jewellery.

In my work I use a particular type of tiny cylindrical glass bead that interlocks evenly when woven. This results in a fabric-like patterned surface which could be flat or dimensional depending on technique used.

The interplay of light on the beads is an important part of my design. The desired result is achieved by using a varying selection of beads from opaque to translucent, each of which has different light reflecting qualities.

Beadweaving is extremely time consuming. A square inch of beading contains nearly 300 beads. Countless hours go into the design and creation of a piece.

My designs tend to be very detailed and ornate.

I am inspired by elaborate pattern and decoration found in cultural designs, textiles, architecture, ancient artifacts, the natural world, to name a few.

I aim to make work that is timeless, pleasing to the eye and evokes curiosity in a viewer.

I am constantly experimenting with new ideas in order to create unique one-off pieces.

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