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The intricacies of craft 

03 Aug 2021

  • Aishwarya Tennekoon on creating cultural and comic sculptures
Aishwarya Tennekoon is currently pursuing his degree in architecture at the University of Moratuwa. His degree helped him with his passion for sculpting, and that led him to open his own workshop by the name of Tenai Workshop. At the age of 24, he has made a name for himself amongst the cosplay community, as well as those who collect sculptures of comic characters.  He had always had the vision to open a workshop, and was pushed towards achieving his dreams by his friends and family who motivated him to start up Tenai Workshop back in 2017.  In conversation with Brunch, Aishwarya told us that his passion for sculpting began at the age of eight, and was impacted by his love for action movies. He would watch shows like Batman and attempt to create figurines simply out of cardboard. That is where his journey began.   Talking about the procedure behind making his sculptures, he informed us that he first needs to acquire reference pictures of his subject from all angles. “These reference pictures are important because they allow me to get my sculptures as close to the original as possible, and that requires pictures of the character from front view, back view, and side views.” Next, an armature – which is an open framework on which a sculpture is moulded with clay – is created with wire, after which he begins the process of molding the clay onto the structure.  Aishwarya uses polymer clay on most of his products, and EVA foam on the rest, so it is safe to say that most of his products are sustainable and won’t cause much harm to the environment. “I have products that I have made back in 2014 which are in prime condition, so the clay I use is very durable and gives my customers value for their money,” he said.  When talking about the biggest challenge he’s faced during his career, he named it to be difficulty in finding materials – and surprisingly this isn’t even due to Covid. “Polymer clay isn’t available in Sri Lanka, so I have to order everything online. It’s very expensive, and it’s impossible to create something out of it and sell it for cheap in our country, so sometimes I have to opt for alternatives.” We asked him if he would consider selling moving figures, to which he replied that he has previously, however, it’s not feasible since it takes a lot of time. “I have to analyse the articulation of the action figure, which takes a lot of time and effort, so the prices for these items are very expensive,” he explained, adding that he has seen a higher demand for his sculptures more than the action figures, so he chooses to stick to those for now.  Every creator has a creation that they would deem their child; for Aishwarya, it’s a sculpture of the Dhadu Monaraya, the legendary pre-historic aircraft used by King Ravana of Sri Lanka. He made this with his own spin on the design: “Since I designed it and modelled it myself, I’m very proud of this creation, and I have received a lot of positive feedback for it as well, so I would definitely name it my most memorable and favourite product for now.”  On this topic, we questioned him on whether he has plans to start his own world of characters, to which he revealed that something is already in the works. Right now, his university work takes up most of his time and focus, so his crafting is still just a hobby, but once he graduates, he plans to work on Tenai Workshop fulltime and create a range of his own characters with their own backstory. He also has long-term plans of opening up a store where the public can come and view his products.  Aishwarya also observed that there is quite a demand for prop-making in the international cinema industry, and hopes that once he receives his degree he can begin working in the local cinema industry, really change the game, and bring our industry to the forefront.  Instagram: @tenaiworkshop Facebook: TENAI Workshop


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