'I turned my identity crisis into my unique style'

When Murugiah grew up in a Sri Lankan household in a small Welsh town, he often felt like he didn't know who he was.

"I was trying to assimilate into white Welsh culture at school, but was often faced with not knowing certain Britishisms because I didn't grow up with them," says the artist, who goes by just his surname.

"There were times when I thought I was a white British person and then I'd have to look in the mirror and realise I'm not."

Today, this question of identity forms the core of his exhibition at the new Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration - and "there's a piece of work that directly links to that feeling in the exhibition," the south London-based artist says.

Murugiah's art is on show across the first floor of the new centre in Clerkenwell and features nods to his Sri Lankan heritage as well as his British surroundings.

After years of honing a more general illustration style, in 2020 Murugiah decided to "lean into" his South Asian heritage and the dichotomy of the two cultures he grew up with to create a style that reflects his personal experience.

"I decided rather than try to redraw the same comic-book character, I would take inspiration from that original source material and create something entirely new using reference points from South Asia and aesthetical influences from the rest of the world.

"My reference points would be things like a Sri Lankan Raksha mask, which is worn during ceremonial parties and dances, and instead of a literal recreation of the mask, I would almost redesign it to fit my sensibilities, my Western upbringing, and incorporate the fact I'm someone who was brought up on Saturday morning cartoons in the UK."

Murugiah says he had a feeling that the themes of "identity and not really knowing who you are, although deeply personal to [him], were also quite universal to many others".

Growing up, he felt like an "oddball", Murugiah says.

"Most of the other kids would use their free periods to go out and play, or socialise with the other kids, whereas I always just gravitated towards the art room. I just wanted to make art on my own."

Having a solo exhibition, he adds, was not something he ever envisaged.

To have it in the same building as one of the most famous illustrators in the UK, and one of his childhood heroes, he says, is "truly humbling" and a "huge honour".

So how did he do it? "When I heard about the creation of the centre in 2024 I approached its artistic director. I was making a series of small paintings that I thought would be suitable for one of their buildings, and they liked it," he says.

Murugiah's approach of simply contacting potential clients and pitching his services has landed him jobs for the likes of Apple, Elton John, film studios Marvel, Disney and Warner Brothers, publishers Faber, as well as numerous speaking roles.

"If you don't ask you don't get," he says, admitting that none of the artists he knows use these kinds of methods.

"I don't know if it's a British thing but a lot of people feel like they have to wait for opportunities to come to them.

"I've never really thought that way. My approach has always been to go after the things you want in life."

Ever Feel Like... runs at the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration in Clerkenwell until 31 August. It is the first of a series of exhibitions made in collaboration with UK-based illustrators.

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