Tissa Ranasinghe is a Sri Lankan sculptor who was born in 1925 in the village of Yogiyana. He is an artist who has more than half a century of experience in sculpture using materials such as wood and bronze, dealing predominantly with religious themes. He refers to bronze as his preferred medium because “bronze lasts for years”, allowing him to leave behind a legacy.

Ranasinghe’s sculptures that deal with religion and myth have predominantly Buddhist and Hindu origins, and indicate a deep understanding of the philosophy behind each religion and the manner in which they can be incorporated into the daily lives of people. He has also been unafraid to reinterpret concepts and stories associated with the religions he works with to suit the modernity and the modern condition. Human beings often share a tense and uneasy relationship with the practice of faith, and Ranasinghe’s work become these embodied sculptural expressions of tension. 

The sculpture “Self-mortification” (1965) is a rendition of Lord Buddha during the six years of fasting under extreme conditions. The sculpture is a tribute to Lord Buddha’s resilience, while it also reminds the viewer that enlightenment can only be achieved by surviving eternal suffering and pain. It is clear that Ranasinghe is an artist dedicated to delineating religion as a struggle and a desperate encounter with one’s own fears, weaknesses and innermost desires that delay enlightenment. “Self-mortification” was later installed and sealed in the relic chamber of the restored Somawathiya Stupa in Sri Lanka. A bronze sculpture entitled “The Enlightenment” was presented to the King of Thailand on his 60th birthday in 1987. This sculpture is again one that highlights the inner perturbation in Prince Siddhartha before he achieved enlightenment, an experience during which external troubles became almost insignificant. 

Ranasinghe received his primary and secondary education at Royal College, Colombo, and went on to study Painting at the College of Fine Arts in Colombo (now the University of Visual and Performing Arts) in 1949. He later earned a Diploma in Sculpture at the Chelsea School of Art in London followed by a Certificate in Bronze Casting from the Royal College of Art in London. He was the first to receive the UNESCO Fellowship allocated to Sri Lanka under the Creative Artists Scheme in 1958. After widely exhibiting his works in London and several other cities in Europe, he returned to Sri Lanka and taught at the College of Fine Arts and the Institute of Practical Technology in Katubedda (which is now the University of Moratuwa). From 1970-71 he was the Principal of the University of Visual and Performing Arts, which was then the Government College of Art and Art Crafts. Once he went to back to the United Kingdom he taught at the Royal College of Art, and continues to work to-date from his studio based in southwest London. His sculptures can be found in many private and public collections in Sri Lanka, UK, Sweden, Greece, USA, Australia, France and Germany. Some of his most prominent sculptures were made for/in memoriam of those who served in the government in Sri Lanka, including former Prime Ministers D.S. Senanayake, Dudley Senanayake, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, Sir John Kotelawala and former Governor General Sir Oliver Goonetilleke.