About
Irushi is an artist from Colombo, Sri Lanka, and currently spending a year abroad as a Chevening Scholar (2022/23) pursuing an MA in Animation at the Royal College of Art in London.
She has a background in English Studies and taught English to undergraduates for almost a decade before pursuing her studio based artistic practice full-time. Her animated films have been screened in festivals in Sri Lanka and abroad, receiving several national and international awards. She has also facilitated workshops and guest talks where she has shared from her experiences of being a self-taught illustrator and animator.
Her most recent work is an animated series titled Animate Her (2019-2022) supported by the British Council, which features the animated interviews of a group of exceptional women living and working in Sri Lanka. Through modes of stop-motion and experimental animation the Animate Her series brings to life the stories of a marine biologist, a children’s author and illustrator, a wildlife conservationist, a lawyer and activist, a traditional dancer, an architect, and an ICT entrepreneur.
Through her work she highlights everyday stories from Sri Lanka and South Asia with the hope of adding to a wider global discourse on storytelling through animation.
Get in touch for commissions, facilitating a workshop, or just to say hello! 🙂
Gallery Exhibitions and Animation Screening
– Brighton International Animation Festival, April 2023 (Nominated for the Best International Short Film Award)
– Tricky Women/Tricky Realities International Animation Festival, Vienna 2023
– Dhaka Art Summit, Bangladesh, March 2023
– Jaffna International Cinema Festival, 2022 (Won the Best National Short Film Award for ‘The Girl in the Rainwater Tree’)
– Agenda14 Short Film Festival, Colombo, 2022 (Best Animated Short Film, Green Award)
– Beyond Borders Feminist Film Festival Dec, 2022 (India, Online)
– Screen Power Film Festival, London, 2022 (Best International Short Film Award, Best Editing Nomination, Best Music Nomination)
– Jacaranda Tales Film Festival organised by Bangalore Film Society, India, 2022
– EyeMyth Media Arts Festival, India, 2022
– Jaffna International Cinema Festival, 2021 (Won the Best National Short Film Award)
– Agenda14 Short Film Festival, Colombo, 2021 (Best Animated Short Film Nomination)
– Colombo International Women’s Film Festival, 2021 (Special Jury Mention)
– Tricky Women/Tricky Realities Animation Festival, Austria, 2021
– Rising Gardens Film Festival, New Delhi, 2021
– Agenda14 Short Film Festival, Colombo, 2020 (Green Award, Best Animated Short Film Award)
– Women of the World- WOW Global24 Online Festival, 2020
– Creating Heroines Pavilion, Women of the World Festival, Nepal (2019), Southbank Centre, London (2020)
– One Hundred Thousand Small Tales, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Colombo, 2019
– One Hundred Thousand Small Tales, Dhaka Art Summit, Bangladesh, 2018
– Agenda14 Short Film Festival, Colombo, 2016 (Best Animated Short Film Award)
– Passion, Sapumal Foundation Gallery, Colombo (2012)
Contact
Email: irushi@irusdedoodles.com
Education
MA Animation – Royal College of Art, London (2023)
MA English Studies – University of Colombo (2020)
Animation
+ ’83 – A Very Short Film (2016)
+ Girl in the Rainwater Tree, funded British Council and Agenda14’s Female Filmmakers First Grant (2021)
+The Animate Her Series, funded by British Council (2019-2022)
– Asha de vos on Studying Blue Whales
– Amila de Mel on Archiving Architecture
– Sybil Wettasinghe on the Umbrella Thief
– Thaji Dias on Traditional Dance
– Lakmini Wijesundera on Building Global Tech Brands
– Ramani Muttettuwegama on Advocacy for the Disappeared
– Anya Ratnayaka on the Colombo Wetlands and the Urban Fishing Cat
+ Dancing in the Void (2023), collaborative performance of animation, electroacoustics and opera performed at the Royal Academy of Music
Workshops
Participated:
– British Council ‘Creating Heroines’ International Residency and Workshop for female artists, facilitated by Dr. Nicola Streeten (Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb 2019)
– Global Media Makers Creative Producing and Pitching Virtual Workshop (May 2021)
– Room to Read Global Illustrators Online Workshop (Aug-Oct 2020)
Facilitated:
– Iru’s Studio Workshop Series (June 2022)
– “On The Animate Her Series” – Virtual Guest Talk for the EyeMyth Media Arts Festival, India (March 2022)
– “Connecting to History Through Graphic Novels” virtual panel discussion organised by Historical Dialogue.lk and EuroClio – the European Association of History Educators (September 2021)
– “Stop-motion animation workshop” at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Sri Lanka (January 2020)
– “Ocean Heroes Animation Workshop” marine themed workshop in collaboration with Dr. Asha De Vos of Oceanswell, Colombo (February 2020)
– “Stop-motion Animation Workshop” based on ’83 A Very Short Film conducted for the MENASA Film and New Media Students from the New York University in Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) (Colombo, 2018)