Shanika Wijesinghe (b. 1970, Colombo; lives and works in Colombo) is a visual artist and an animal advocate. Her practice is shaped by close observation of human behaviour and their interactions with the natural world, and draws on Jataka stories, Sri Lankan folk tales and social issues. Made in response to rising deforestation and urbanisation, her work imagines a posthumanist world founded on ahimsa (non-violence) and active empathy.
Wijesinghe draws directly on the canvas, then builds layers of abstract form in oil paint. Her paintings, which are a labyrinth of multiple forms fused together, human figures, animals, and landscapes, often blur boundaries that separate one from the other. Through this process, the artist seeks to restore connections across all life and to gesture toward healing in a divided world.
Wijesinghe completed a five-year fine arts program at Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts, Colombo (2020), in addition to a short drawing program at the Slade School of Fine Art, London (2017).