Exhibitions
MURUGIAH enters his own kaleidoscope
Identity, memory and pop culture blend together in the British illustrator's first major solo tour.
MURUGIAH's universe is inhabited by characters with floral heads, elephants, and skulls—creatures that seem to emerge from a realm where popular culture, personal memory, and Sri Lankan traditions coexist without borders. This imagery, as colorful as it is unsettling, is the focus of Ever Feel Like… , the first solo exhibition by the multidisciplinary artist, on view until October 4, 2026, at the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration in London.
The exhibition brings together a selection of works spanning a decade of the artist's career, offering a glimpse into an artistic practice built on a blend of mediums. Painting, sculpture, animation, and graphic art converge in an exhibition that reflects MURUGIAH's ability to translate his unique visual language across different media and scales.
His work stems from a deeply personal experience. Born in the United Kingdom to a family of Sri Lankan origin, the artist explores the tensions between his cultural heritage and his Welsh upbringing. This sense of distance from his roots, along with experiences of rejection, emotional overload, and disconnection, is transformed into images of great symbolic power.
References to Sri Lanka intertwine with memories of a childhood shaped by Nintendo, Saturday morning cartoons, and pop-punk music. This imagery is further enriched by elements from Hollywood cinema and Sri Lankan art and design, creating a hybrid language in which the familiar takes on a strange and, at times, almost macabre dimension.
The characters that populate her works function as visual metaphors for this complexity of identity. Flowers, elephants, skulls, and fantastical bodies construct a repertoire of forms that doesn't seek to offer definitive answers, but rather to provoke associations. Beneath the playful appearance of her creatures lie issues related to belonging, identity, and the difficulty of reconciling different parts of oneself.
MURUGIAH's training as an architect is also crucial. His experience with space translates into ambitious compositions, shifts in scale, and plays on perspective that expand the possibilities of illustration. For the past ten years, he has developed projects for diverse fields such as journalism, fashion, and branding , collaborating with clients and brands across various sectors.
In Ever Feel Like… , however, the artist moves away from the limitations of commercial commissions to delve into a more intimate exploration. The new sculptures and paintings engage in dialogue with graphic works, prints, and animations, creating a journey in which the different media influence one another.
The result is a visual universe that may initially seem festive, but soon reveals darker layers. The chromatic exuberance and playful nature of its characters coexist with a sense of strangeness and vulnerability. MURUGIAH thus transforms his own contradictions into artistic material and invites the visitor to recognize, in these impossible creatures, emotions that are also part of everyday experience.
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