Images of Illusion: In Conversation with Irushi Tennekoon

Stop motion is a filmmaking technique in which objects are photographed in small increments of time with minor changes. The resulting images are eventually placed next to each other to create a seamless moving image. In this conversation, Sri Lankan artist, illustrator and filmmaker Irushi Tennekoon delves into her practice, her fascination with stop motion and the manner in which the medium lends itself to creative storytelling. Tennekoon’s repertoire includes ’83: A Very Short Film (2016), based on the 1983 Black July riots in Colombo; The Girl in the Rainwater Tree (2021), directed by Yoshitha Perera, for which Tennekoon wrote the script and did the animation; and Animate Her (2019), a series of films that present the lives of seven courageous and successful Sri Lankan women.

Each story in her oeuvre begins as a research project. This is then expanded to a storyboard, out of which 2D illustrations are born. Tennekoon works with a team of multidisciplinary creatives to develop each asset into a 3D object that can then be photographed and turned into a stop motion creation. Here, her multidisciplinary interests come into play as she manipulates various found objects and materials, ranging from clay, wood, paper, cardboard and metal. 

In this conversation, Tennekoon speaks of her journey as a self-taught artist working on subverting mainstream narratives and histories in Sri Lanka. She highlights how storytelling allows her the space to bring out the nuances of dominant narratives that often elude us, especially in Sri Lankan society. An example of this is the Animate Her series, which attempts to redefine heroines by shifting the discourse towards contemporary, relatable women from the artist’s own life and away from heroines of mythological or epic origin. More than anything, Tennekoon looks for ways to explore the power of storytelling for a variety of audiences. 

(Featured Image: Still from ’83: A Very Short Film by Irushi Tennekoon, Sumudu Athukorala and Sumedha Kelegama. Image courtesy of the artist.)  

This conversation was recorded on 4 December 2021

To learn more about Tennekoon’s work, revisit Pramodha Weerasekera’s observations on ’83: A Very Short Film and the Animate Her series.