Inquiries - kumkumfernando@gmail.com

Kumkum was born in Sri Lanka, the son of an antiques and curiosities collector. As far back as he can remember, Kumkum has been a collector as well: of stones, spoons, statues, masks, and other ancient marvels and treasures. Thousands of years of Sri Lankan culture inform Kumkum’s art, from ornate temple paintings to folktales of portals that connect us to a vast underworld of gods, giants and demons. He proudly derives inspiration from this heritage, bridging fine art and design with a deep appreciation for ancient and traditional forms. From his home base in Vietnam, Kumkum and his team scours the streets for found materials – patterns, shapes and colors – to reanimate into art objects.

The Reborn series flowered from this practice, repurposing traditional aesthetics to produce futuristic, geometric sculptures featuring time-honored East Asian painting and lacquering techniques. Equal parts action figures and idols, these vibrant deities evoke a unique spiritualism, mythology, and philosophy. Every sculpture is accompanied by a poem; a homage to the storytelling of Kumkum’s grandmother, shared with him as a child in her beloved gardens.