Christopher Kulendran Thomas

Christopher Kulendran Thomas’ painting is based on a beach scene in the Tamil homeland of Eelam, now Sri Lanka. It is composed using artificial intelligence and then painted by hand. The AI was trained to simulate the work by generations of Sri Lanka’s most celebrated artists, all influenced by colonial art history brought by European settlers. The work’s meaning remains uncertain, and this ambiguity reflects the country’s layered memories and contested histories of war and colonization.
    The artist uses AI tools to imagine the scene, raising questions about who controls historical narratives and how images can shape what is remembered.
    Christopher Kulendran Thomas, of Tamil descent, grew up in London after his family left escalating ethnic violence in Sri Lanka.