Behind the Brush

Dhananjaya “DJ” Perera is a Sri Lankan American artist based in Fort Worth, Texas. Perera is primarily a painter whose psychedelic pours and abstract imagery revolve around his Sri Lankan heritage.  These earlier works can be found in his VIRILITY, CULTURALISM, BLACK on BLACK, and TRANSCENDENCE series.
His recent works have transitioned towards highly detailed achromatic pointillism drawings, which have attracted attention and acclaim within the regional art community. His recent accolades include: 
  • 2024 Eagle Mountain-Saginaw commission
  • 2023 TCU College of Fine Arts commission
  • 2021 Board member Friends of the TCU Library
  • 2021 panel speaker for State of the Arts dialogue hosted by the Kimbell Art Museum and KERA NPR: "What Gains Have Been Made in a Year of Loss...and What's Next?"
  • Placing 2nd place in the drawing category for the 8th annual juried art exhibit by the Tarrant County Black Historical and Genealogical Society.
  • November 2020, 117 Hours donated to the Mary Couts Burnett Library at Texas Christian University, becoming the first Sri Lankan artist to be included in TCU’s permanent art collection.
  • June 2020, Perera was selected as one of six-grand finalist grant recipients of the The New Normal: An Artists Response to COVID-19  $5,000.00 grant initiative which was launched by the Fine Line Group, the family offices Sasha and Edward. P. Bass with support by the Alice L. Walton Foundation, the Donny Wiley Memorial Fund at the North Texas Community Foundation, and Kit and Charlie Moncrief in partnership with the Gallery of Dreams
  • Perera’s works have also been collected by UN and Consulate Ambassadors.
 

ARTIST STATEMENT

 "My abstractions derive through a “less is more” directive. I endeavour to let the art making process become a transient experience so that my aesthetic can acquire its own visual iconography; an extension of my Sri Lankan identity and cultural heritage.  The visual congruence between Sri Lankan tradition and abstraction, generates a studio practice in which the artist is both the creator and spectator."