Rajni Perera

ABOUT

Rajni Perera was born in Sri Lanka in 1985 and lives and works in Toronto, Canada. She explores issues of hybridity, futurity, ancestorship, migrant and marginalized identities and cultures, monsters, and dream worlds. These themes come together to fuel explorations within a multimedia practice that includes drawing and painting, clay, wood, lanterns, sculpture, textile and, most recently, synthetic taxidermy. Perera seeks to open and to reveal the dynamism of the icons, beings, and objects she creates. Through a subversive aesthetic that counteracts antiquated, oppressive discourses, her work acts as a restorative force. Themes of migration, resistance, adaptability, and transformation are prevalent across her practice, which imagines novel forms of social relating and species interdependence.

 

EXHIBITION HISTORY

Well-known to Canadian audiences thanks to major exhibitions at the PHI Foundation (2024) and the McMichael Collection (2022, tour ongoing), Rajni Perera has recently received international acclaim for her invitation to the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia,  In Minor Keys by Koyo Kouoh, her works commissioned by the Sharjah Biennial (UAE, 2025) and for her show at the MAC Lyon (France, 2025) in collaboration with Marigold Santos. Her recent exhibition at Rajiv Menon (Los Angeles, USA, 2026) follows significant presentations at the Musée d’art de Joliette (Canada, 2025) and Toronto Biennial of Art (Canada, 2024). Galerie Hugues Charbonneau has been proud to feature Perera’s work at art fairs and group shows and presented her solo exhibition Phylogeny in 2023. Perera has further exhibited at Temple Contemporary (Philadelphia, USA, 2022), Jeffrey Deitch (Los Angeles, USA, 2022), Colomboscope (Sri Lanka, 2022), the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, Canada, 2021), Glasgow Tramway (Scotland, 2020), theMuseum of Contemporary Art (Toronto, Canada, 2018), the Art Gallery of York University (Toronto, Canada, 2017), the Colombo Art Biennale (Sri Lanka, 2016 and Edinburgh, UK, 2017), and Patel Brown (Toronto, Canada) on multiple occasions. Her work can be found in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the Sobey Foundation among others.

Rajni Perera, Gatekeeper, 2024-2025 Installation view at Sharjah Biennial 16
Rajni Perera, Seals and Eels (Phylogeny series) 2024 Mixed media on paper 114 (height) x 155 (top) x 131,3 (bottom) cm (45” x 61” x 51.7”) Commissioned by Sharjah Biennial 16
Rajni Perera, Biomes (Phylogeny series) 2024-2025 Mixed media sculptural elements, found natural elements, glass cloches, wood plinth. 139 (h) x 247 x 62 cm (55″ x 97″ x 24″) Commissioned by Sharjah Biennial 16
Rajni Perera, Tata (Phylogeny series), 2024 Acrylic gouache, chalk, charcoal, gel pen and pencil on hand marbled paper 61 x 36,8 cm (24” x 14,5”)
Rajni Perera, Vimana (N1 Starfighter), 2024 Toronto Biennial of Art, Canada Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid
Rajni Perera and Marigold Santos: Efflorescence/The Way We Wake, 2024 Installation view Fondation PHI, Montréal, Canada (© Fondation PHI pour l’art contemporain, photo : Richard-Max Tremblay)
Rajni Perera et Marigold Santos: Efflorescence/The Way We Wake, 2024 From left to right and back to front: Rajni Perera, Protection by Quadrocobra, 2024; Rajni Perera, Cloaked Figure, 2024; Rajni Perera, Birth is a bloodsport, 2024; Rajni Perera, Clacker, 2024; Rajni Perera, Gourd Woman (Vessel), 2024 Installation view Fondation PHI, Montréal, Canada (© Fondation PHI pour l’art contemporain, photo : Richard-Max Tremblay)
Rajni Perera, Worm (Droid), 2024 Polymer clay, styrofoam, foamcoat, steel, paper clay, synthetic hair Installation view at the Phi Foundation, Montréal, Canada © Fondation PHI pour l’art contemporain, photo: Richard-Max Tremblay
Rajni Perera, A Starry-eyed Subspecies, 2022-2023 Polyurethane foam, wood, cowhair, polymer clay, epoxy clay, synthetic track weave,polyester, cotton, dried grass, synthetic grass, acrylic paint
<strong>Rajni Perera, A Starry-eyed Subspecies, 2022-2023</strong> Polyurethane foam, wood, cowhair, polymer clay, epoxy clay, synthetic track weave,polyester, cotton, dried grass, synthetic grass, acrylic paint
Rajni Perera, A Starry-eyed Subspecies, 2022-2023 Polyurethane foam, wood, cowhair, polymer clay, epoxy clay, synthetic track weave, polyester, cotton, dried grass, synthetic grass, acrylic paint
Rajni Perera, A Starry-eyed Subspecies, 2022-2023 Polyurethane foam, wood, cowhair, polymer clay, epoxy clay, synthetic track weave,polyester, cotton, dried grass, synthetic grass, acrylic paint
Rajni Perera, Nesting, 2024 XPS foam, acrylic paint, epoxy putty, synthetic fur, mixed dyed feathers, sheep bones, deer bones, plastic, plaster, wood plinth Scultpure : 91,5 (h) x 35,5 x 76 cm (36” x 14” x 30”) Base : 96,5 (h) x 49 x 74 cm (38” x 19” x 29”)
Rajni Perera, Lagoon, 2023 Acrylic gouache, chalk, charcoal, gel pen and pencil on hand marbled paper 117 x 168 cm (46” x 66”) – trapezoidal
Rajni Perera, Desert, 2023 Acrylic gouache, chalk, charcoal, gel pen and pencil on hand marbled paper 117 x 168 cm (46” x 66”) – trapezoidal
Rajni Perera, Tundra, 2023 Acrylic gouache, chalk, charcoal, gel pen and pencil on hand marbled paper 117 x 168 cm (46” x 66”) – trapezoidal
Rajni Perera, Still Life / Tropics 1 & 2, 2021 Mixed media Collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Rajni Perera, Fever (Objects of Dreamworld series), 2020 Mixed media on paper 69 x 71 cm (27” x 28”) Private collection
2021 Sobey Art Award Exhibition Installation view, National Gallery of Canada (Photo courtesy of the NGC and the artist)
Rajni Perera, I take a journey, you take a journey, we take a journey together / Mask 4, 2020 Textile, leather, beads, lace and thread on gasmask 30,5 x 30,5 x 21,6 cm (12” x 12” x 8,5”)
RELATIONS: Diaspora and Painting, 2020 Phi Foundation for Contemporary Art, Montréal, Canada (curator: Cheryl Sim)
Rajni Perera, Traveler, 2019 Mixed media on stretched cotton rag stock 40,6 x 20,5 cm (16″ x 12″) Private collection
Rajni Perera, Banner 1, Banner 2 and Talisman (collaborative sculpture) 2018 Believe (commissaire_curator David Liss) Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto, Canada
Migrating the Margins, 2021 Installation view, Art Gallery of York University, 2017