Shanali
Perera

Dr Shanali Perera is a Sri Lankan-born, Manchester-based interdisciplinary contemporary artist, educator, and advocate who bridges the gap between clinical expertise and creative expression. A former rheumatologist who now lives with Vasculitis, she uses her unique dual perspective as a "physician-patient" to advocate for better health narratives and patient empowerment. Her practice is situated at the intersection of the clinical gaze, embodiment and the politics of visibility. She focuses on the "art-health narrative," using mixed media and digital tools to explore embodiment and identity. Her multidisciplinary portfolio visualises 'the embodied invisible,' transforming the hidden, non-linear realities of chronic pain, fatigue, and identity displacement into a public, visceral dialogue. Working with tactile acrylic layers, fingers, scrapers, rags, and digital tools, she adapts her process around the limitations of Vasculitis, turning biological constraint into a language of agency, resilience, and connection.

Through her work, she transforms the experience of autoimmune illness into socially relevant dialogue, moving beyond clinical data to the human core of resilience. Her practice challenges the traditional narrative of the "patient-body," seeking to reclaim identity through expressive mark-making. She is currently developing Unseen Me, an immersive project merging live art and digital projection to facilitate collective, participatory explorations of the invisible experience.

Shanali’s work has been exhibited internationally, including during 60th Venice Biennale in The PATHs Exhibit, Palazzo Pisani Revedin (satellite exhibition) and the Women in Art Biennale London. She continues to evolve across curatorial, institutional, and cross-disciplinary platforms. Perera’s work challenges the sterile clinical gaze, reclaiming agency from a fractured physical reality to construct powerful monuments to collective human resilience, social justice, and inclusion.

She is also the author of Finding Me Beyond Illness, which reflects her journey through art and lived experience. Alongside her studio practice, as an educator, she facilitates 'Visualising Pain' workshops and talks, which serve as a critical bridge for medical students and clinicians exploring 'visceral into visual' experience and reflective practice. Her work blends storytelling, advocacy, and healing to create lasting human connection.

For more information, visit her website www.shanaliperera.com