"My life rhythm was interrupted. My high-flying career speed train suddenly derailed. So, what took over? A new journey replaced the old one when my life as an artist began..."
Manchester-based, self-taught contemporary artist Dr Shanali Perera is making it her life’s mission to help others understand illness visually. Her work centres on abstract expressionism with figurative undertones.
Born and raised in Sri Lanka, she went on to study Medicine at the University of the West Indies and continued her postgraduate training after relocating to the UK. While specializing in Rheumatology, she developed Vasculitis, a rare autoimmune condition. It was this that forced her to quit her medical career. Losing herself to illness, she struggled with image and identity. Expressing herself through art helped transform her life. Art gave her a more meaningful way of living as she shifted roles from clinician to patient and, eventually, becoming a person again. Her abstract expressions are of ‘the embodied invisible’ - a visual narrative which portrays an honest representation of her relationship with illness. "By making my illness visible, art helped me to understand, accept, cope, and communicate with myself and others," says Shanali.
Being an educator, author, and former physician, Shanali works at the intersection of art, medical education, and patient support by giving talks, workshops, presenting at conferences, and writing articles on the use of art in health. She has now published her first book, ‘Finding Me Beyond Illness’, which is available here.
Shanali navigates the concept of creating dialogic canvases that connect directly with her audience, sparking thought-provoking conversations and raising awareness around identity and illness.
Born and raised in Sri Lanka, she went on to study Medicine at the University of the West Indies and continued her postgraduate training after relocating to the UK. While specializing in Rheumatology, she developed Vasculitis, a rare autoimmune condition. It was this that forced her to quit her medical career. Losing herself to illness, she struggled with image and identity. Expressing herself through art helped transform her life. Art gave her a more meaningful way of living as she shifted roles from clinician to patient and, eventually, becoming a person again. Her abstract expressions are of ‘the embodied invisible’ - a visual narrative which portrays an honest representation of her relationship with illness. "By making my illness visible, art helped me to understand, accept, cope, and communicate with myself and others," says Shanali.
Being an educator, author, and former physician, Shanali works at the intersection of art, medical education, and patient support by giving talks, workshops, presenting at conferences, and writing articles on the use of art in health. She has now published her first book, ‘Finding Me Beyond Illness’, which is available here.
Shanali navigates the concept of creating dialogic canvases that connect directly with her audience, sparking thought-provoking conversations and raising awareness around identity and illness.
