Boiling milk in clay pots (kiri ithiraweema) is a highly respected traditional element of the local culture. It is believed to bring good luck and good fortune. This is practiced by most Sri Lankans, irrespective of the ethnicity. However, politicians use values illustrated by such practices to turn each ethnic community against the other, exploit ethnic communities, leading to political gain. It's as if we are boiling milk in small pots in favour of our individual fortune than that of the entire island's.
The roaring lion-head mimics the national flag of Sri Lanka. The lion's head is crowned with stars of the Chinese flag. Upon closer inspection, it could also be read that the lion's head is "seeing stars", as happens in comics when one is faced with an unfavourable situation.
The figure at the centre of the collage is donning the two main uniforms associated with Sri Lanka: the camouflage and the saffron robe. The camouflage represents military power of the State, and the saffron robe emphasises the Sinhala Buddhist influence on the State. The two visuals overlap, although they represent two ends of the political spectrum: "violence" and "peace".
The art alludes to traditional Kandy-temple-aesthetics, and is of the powerful elite being escorted by the deamons (the Yakkas). It speaks of the families who have been in politics for generations, which is most of the politicians today. Dictatorship and resorting to any means in order to keep the State power within the family is not new to Sri Lankans; it is what our great Kings would have done, too.
The sad and scared eyes represent our forgotten history of violence: from riots in the 1970s and the 80s to the civil war, and the countless abductions and murders by the State.