Paintings of American Aspiration Under Pressure

Waruna is a Sri Lankan-born American painter whose work explores power, identity, and the myths we build around the institutions that shape our lives. Raised across Sri Lanka, Australia, and the United States, Waruna came to America with a perspective that was both inside and outside its culture. His paintings use flags, crowns, figures, reflections, and other symbols to pull apart the ceremony of American life and ask what lies beneath it. Rendered with humor, distortion, and formal care, the work invites viewers into a visual puzzle, one that keeps unfolding the longer they look. At its heart is a simple question: what do we choose to believe, and why do we give those beliefs so much power?