Amritha Jalaja Devi, a visual artist from Mavelikara, Kerala, is steadily developing her artistic career in the UK, where her contemporary figurative paintings explore themes of memory, identity, migration, home and personal experience.
Amritha’s journey from Kerala to the UK reflects both her strong artistic foundations and her determination to develop a distinctive creative voice. She completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting) at Raja Ravi Varma College of Fine Arts, Mavelikara, before moving to the UK to undertake an MA Contemporary Art Practice at De Montfort University, Leicester.
Her artistic journey has already brought several notable achievements, including being offered a GREAT Scholarship for postgraduate study in the UK. Although she did not take up the award, the offer formed part of her developing academic and artistic journey.
Recognition from the British Council
One of the most recent milestones in Amritha’s career came with her selection for the British Council Study UK Creative Connections 2026 exhibition in New Delhi.The Creative Connections programme provides an opportunity to showcase emerging creative talent and build connections between artists and creative communities.
Being selected for the 2026 exhibition represents an important recognition of Amritha’s developing practice.Her selected painting, Shared Silence (2024), an acrylic-on-canvas work measuring approximately 165 × 145 cm, forms part of her continuing exploration of rest, intimacy and quiet human moments through contemporary figurative painting. The work reflects a wider concern within Amritha’s practice with how the human body can communicate emotion through stillness, posture and physical presence. Rather than presenting rest simply as inactivity, her paintings consider it as a psychological and emotional space connected with vulnerability, comfort, intimacy, wellbeing and human connection.
Her work has also been connected with Kerala’s vibrant contemporary art scene. She participated in the Kochi-Muziris Biennale Foundation’s Varavazhikal public art project, gaining valuable experience in public and community-based art. As part of the collaborative project, Amritha contributed to large-scale public mural work in Alappuzha, near the Alappuzha Lighthouse.
From Kerala to the UK
Coming from Mavelikara and developing her professional practice in the UK has also given her an opportunity to connect her Kerala background with her evolving artistic identity. Amritha hopes to continue developing these connections through exhibitions, public art, community projects and workshops in the UK.
In the UK, Amritha is continuing to extend her practice beyond the studio, developing relationships with councils, cultural organisations and arts organisations while exploring opportunities for community workshops, public murals and collaborative visual-art projects and online classes. This reflects her growing commitment to public engagement and to contributing to the UK’s cultural landscape.
Building an artistic future
Amritha’s commissioned work already includes large-scale mural projects in the UK, including a mural for 90s Mix Restaurant in Leicester. Such projects have enabled her to take her artistic skills beyond the studio and into public and community spaces.
The murals draw on Kerala’s cultural memory, regional identity and visual heritage, transforming familiar cultural references into large-scale, public-facing artworks. The Leicester commission represents an important development in Amritha’s UK practice, demonstrating her ability to extend her painterly language beyond the studio and into site-responsive work.
Her developing body of work brings together experiences of Kerala and the United Kingdom, using the human figure, domestic space, colour and memory to explore belonging, cultural transition, emotional experience and human connection. Through this evolving practice, Amritha continues to build a distinctive visual language grounded in memory, emotion and the quiet complexity of human relationships.
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