Hashan Cooray's 'Untitled VIII' from his 2024 exhibition ‘Dystopia’ vividly captures the internal turmoil experienced by individuals within a society governed by rigid socio-cultural and political systems. Text inspired by graffiti appears alongside these humanoid figures - creating a contrasting dynamic between unfiltered expressions of human emotion with the sterile, mechanical nature of lettering. The resulting series of charcoal drawings presents the unconscious stream of thoughts through which the artist contemplates the Orwellian nature of human existence where society finds itself trapped in a web of nationalism, capitalism, and consumerism.