Genesis: Identity

By Natalie Wijeyeratne

Genesis: Identity examines the infinite and interconnected nature of life. Through a compelling series of acrylic paintings developed over four years, artist Natalie Wijeyeratne explores life’s cycles on both micro and macro levels, highlighting the raw regenerative forces of personal and universal existence.

Exploring the Cycles of Life

The exhibition uses the recurring symbol of the oval to represent perpetual motion, continuous flow, and evolution. For Wijeyeratne, these shapes signify cycles of creation, fertility, gestation, birth, rebirth, and motherhood. The soft shape of the oval conveys protection and interconnectedness while acknowledging the boundaries and constraints that inform our growth. Through these vibrant works, the artist explores the dynamic dance between:

• Freedom and limitation
• Individuality and collective existence
• The enduring rhythms that govern life itself

Genesis: Identity invites you to consider themes of eternity, wholeness, and completeness. The collection encourages you to contemplate how harmony, balance, and continuity show up in your own life while honoring the simple shapes that help us define who we are.

About Natalie

Natalie Wijeyeratne is a Sri Lankan–Australian artist based in Naarm (Melbourne). Her diverse practice spans intuitive painting, upcycled ceramics, and fabric installations. She works with acrylics, ink, decoupage, and non-traditional tools to embrace immediacy, inner discernment, and curiosity.

Her art dives deeply into personal events and layered questions of identity, belonging, and contradiction. Themes of not quite “fitting in” reflect her neurodivergence, cultural confusion, and a complex relationship with labels. This tension shines through in her unique aesthetic, seamlessly combining: Her work is a deeply internalised translation of the organic processes of emotional growth and psychological change. Each painting resonates with open possibility, luminosity, and emotional energy, offering a space for personal interpretation.

"I create to reconnect with wonder, using intuitive painting to freely process and express both joyful and challenging experiences in an overly curated world."

Natalie Wijeyeratne

Main artwork - from left to right, Spiral, Fertile and Urban Eden, © The Artist
Bio Image by Half Glass Studio