T. Vinoja’s (b. 1991 in Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka) textile-focused practice is based in the landscape—both its physical presence and its emotional weight. Since the Sri Lankan Civil War (1983–2009), which lasted for over three decades, she has carried questions about the land and its people. The war may have ended, but its traces remain embedded in the soil, in memory, and in the everyday lives of people like Vinoja who grew up in the backdrop of unspeakable violence. This particular work is inspired by those wounded landscapes. To her, the land is not just a backdrop—it is a witness, a victim, and a silent bearer of trauma. Vinoja approaches the landscape as something that holds memory, loss, and grief, much like the human body. The work reveals a metaphoric connection between the land and the body through which she explores the ongoing relationship between trauma, memory, and place—emphasising how landscapes can hold wounds, just as people do.
T. Vinoja holds a BA in Fine Arts from Swami Vipulananda Institute of Aesthetic Studies of the Eastern University, Batticaloa, where she was a lecturer in the Department of Visual and Technological Arts. She completed her Masters in Art and Design Studies at Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, Pakistan in 2025.
Select solo and group exhibitions include Sharjah Biennial 16 (2025); A Moving Cloak in Terrain (2025, upcoming), Experimenter - Colaba, Mumbai; Contours of a Breathing Land | சுவாசிக்கும் நிலத்தின் வரையறைகள் (2025), Colomboscope, Kilinochchi; Unravel: The Power & Politics of Textiles in Art at the Barbican, London and Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2024-2025); Anatomy of Remembrances | நினைவுகளின் உடற்கூறியல், Experimenter, Kolkata, India (2023); Language is Migrant, Colomboscope, Colombo, and Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi (2022); Exploring identities and histories: Looking at Ourselves, Future of Peace, Kilinochchi and Jaffna, Sri Lanka (2021); A Timeless Heritage, Tolworth Recreation Centre, Fuller’s Way North, United Kingdom (2020); Differently able, Non-Violent Living Artist Group and OBR, Batticaloa, Kilinochchi and the University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka (2017-20); Expressing Post War Struggles through Painting, SVIAS, Eastern University, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka (2017), among others.