In 1982 she became an apprentice bronze caster to Lynn Chadwick, and later went on to set up her own bronze foundry in Kadunnawa, Sri Lanka which she ran for seven years. Malathie now works mainly with stone, drawing much inspiration from nature and her Buddhist faith.

She currently lives and works in South London, and says of her work: ‘Sculpture has enriched my life and given solace in times of deep sadness. Stone and wood require strength and a force of precision but do not always respond predictably to pressure. They must be respected for their own internal harmony and movement, the mysterious desire to yield to the force of nature and the appearance of solidity, which may stand in direct contrast to the potentially fragile interior. Stone and wood involve a constant emotional and aesthetic challenge, both to respect the rhythms and flow of the material and to bring something of the individual artist to the concrete visual statement of Self and Other being created. I sincerely hope that my work has achieved this’.