Visual Responses to 'Reef' by Romesh Gunesekera

Reef is a series of visual textile responses to a novel by Romesh Gunesekera.

‘Reef’ is a novel based on classism and social injustice in post-colonial Sri Lanka. The story is told from the viewpoint of Triton, a young boy who goes to work for Mr Salgado, a young man who comes from inherited wealth. His abrupt end to schooling exposes poverty and the lack of opportunities for working class people in Sri Lanka.

The reef starts to bleach and the marine life it supports starts to deplete. Partly through heartbreak and subsequent depression, Salgado ignores the community tensions that are rising, until his best friend, Dias, disappears - suspected murdered. Salgado is forced to act by leaving Sri Lanka and taking refuge in England, while Sri Lankan community and society fragment and descend into chaos and violence. The reef is a visual metaphor for the social fabric of Sri Lankan society – a delicate system which, when disrupted, has devastating consequences.

My visual responses showcase the coral reef illustrations through batik applied to fabric, revealing the gradual decline of the coral reef. Printmaking onto fabric using the etching technique helps show the disappearance of marine life while silk screen illustrates the human story.

The layering of different textile art and printmaking techniques is an illustrative visual feast. A fusion of Sri Lankan craft batik and western printmaking techniques are expressions of my cultural heritage and visual identity.