The Ancestral Dress 2 — Pala Pothupitiye

The Ancestral Dress 2

Explore 'The Ancestral Dress 2' by Pala Pothupitiye – a striking bust blending traditional Indonesian art & modern materials. Layered textures, ornate headdress, & symbolic design. A unique piece for collectors.


pala pothupitiye (1972)

Sri Lankan contemporary artist Pala Pothupitiye blends traditional Southern Sri Lankan craft & ritual heritage with modern art. Explore ancestral themes & unique textile interpretations.

Fukuoka Asian Art Museum (Fukuoka, Japan)

The museum champions emerging artists and utilizes diverse mediums like paintings, sculptures, installations, and video art.

Pala Pothupitiya often incorporates elements of traditional craft in his work. Candy Dance is a famous traditional dance in Sri Lanka but the dancers are socially regarded as lower class. As if he is paying homage to his own father who was a Candy dancer, the artist decorates the bust of a dancer excessively. Ironically, the materials he chooses are cheap plastic and discarded materials. He may well suggest that the contemporary industrial materials and neon lights in urban cities that he used in his work have a common allure with traditional culture.