Kosala Gunasinghe

Born to an artistic family in Sri Lanka, Kosala Gunasinghe began drawing and painting since an early age. In the golden age of hand-drawn signage, his playground was his father's agency workshop, where he studied and practised brush skills after school. In 1999, he moved to Hong Kong to work in the advertising and film industries.

With the evolution of photography, portraiture was an endangered art, but he’s always been more drawn to portraits than any other types of painting. A human face is complex and changes constantly with mood. When we meet someone, we look at their face to read their emotions and to understand their personality.

As an artist, Kos likes to challenge himself and never does portraits in a traditional way. He tends to start with short sketchy strokes to capture the essence of the subject's features, following by large vividly-coloured brushstrokes. Or he would paint directly onto the canvas to add movement and energy so that the whole piece becomes more dynamic and engaging.