Shanaathanan was born in Jaffna in 1969, and studied painting to MFA level at Delhi University, India.

His work has been exhibited in Madras, New Delhi, Colombo and Paris, and is in collections in France, England, Germany, Canada, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. He is currently Lecturer in Fine Art at Jaffna University, in a department which he helped to establish. He has played a fundamental role in re-establishing artistic production in post-war Jaffna, and has done much to promote artistic links between the Jaffna province and the south of the island. He works mainly in mixed media and printing, the works in this exhibition reflecting dark and surreal visions.