Q: What inspires the pieces you create?
A:Colour inspires me. I feel as if all this colour and movement is inside me, and that’s what pours out when I start something new. It’s the same with the clothing I design too. So each piece is a unique representation of that moment in time.
There are ideas and themes in my work but they’re more apparent at the starting point than my inspiration, as well as what I want to express.

Q: Having experienced life overseas, does it influence the pieces you create?
A: No, I don’t think it influences my work. It’s more my humour, which is very British. But folk art around the world particularly Indian and Eastern European pieces have had a profound impact on my work.
I love what our ancestors created before the concepts of ‘polish’ and ‘refinement’ crept into art around the world. In addition, I do appreciate religious art from different countries – particularly the Middle East and Russia.

Q:Your best advice on reacting to criticism is...
A:Listen to and process it, take what you can from what’s said and discard the rest. Don’t hang on to it even though this is easier said than done.

Q:Tell us about how you launched your own label...
A: Actually, it’s been in progress for the past two years or so. I realised one day that my dream of learning block printing in Jaipur may not eventuate; so I decided to explore it myself. That’s how my printing began.
It took me about a year to refine my skill and be happy with the results. Now I have a steady but growing clientele and also the possibility of a bride in the next 18 months.
I made the decision not to retail so that I can ensure that every single piece from Pathanny is completely unique to each client.

Q:Your art has a flower motif, and examines environmental issues such as pollution and the accumulation of garbage. What drew you to that theme?
A: I think it’s nearly impossible to live in today’s world, and not be moved or impacted by climate change and our responsibility to the planet.
I have a series that I’ve been working on for a number of years that’s based on commercial greed and its relationship with gender issues. So as an artist, it may not be that you are actively trying to communicate these matters through art.
But if those issues are impacting your thoughts and feelings while you create, they will then be addressed through your creations. It’s a part of who you are. And who I am is what I put into my work.

Q:If you could go back in time and work with any popular artist, impressionist or designer, who would you pick and why?
A: There are so many. William Morris, the English artist who was not limited to paintings. He worked with furniture, wallpaper and fabric, and nature was his greatest source of inspiration.
I would also love to have been in Dambulla when the temple was being painted or watched Ena de Silva at work – and talked to her about reinventing traditional methods and art forms.

Q:When it comes to fostering new talent, what do you think Sri Lanka lacks?
A: A true understanding of what creativity means. This is the key concept that I convey when I’m mentoring.
In Sri Lanka, creativity is considered to be simply copying what came before us when actually, it’s the exact opposite. Creativity is communicating your unique experience of the world in your chosen medium; it’s not about recreating traditional drawings or photos from Google.
My younger students really struggle with this idea because they’re taught in school that art is supposed to be ‘like this’… and when they come to me, I tell them the opposite!