KATHMANDU:

The exhibition titled Struggle on the Dust, which has artworks formed by an artist’s struggle to create an art from saw dust opened at Nepal Art Council on March 18. This is the second solo emboss art exhibition of artist Tirtha Man Sthapit.

The creations being exhibited here are the outcome of artist’s attempt to showcase cultural and natural heritages of Nepal, using his unique technique; carvings on sawdust.

All 33 creations have been created in plywood instead of canvas, which in itself is a creative and unusual attempt by the artist. Brown is the dominant colour of the collection with slight presence of other colours like blue, white, yellow and black. Sthapit has used emulsion colours in these creations.

He has tried to present Nepal’s natural beauty through mountains like Dhaulagiri, Everest, Makalu, Machhapuchhre, etc. His use of colours to create Mt Machhapuchhre at the time of sunset is excellent for he has captured it perfectly.

Whereas his depiction of places like Patan Durbar Square, Hanumandhoka and Bhaktapur Durbar Square in the artworks show the artist’s love for cultural heritages. In these creations the artist has delved into fine details of the structures. Sthapit looks at photos to create these pieces and thus his portrayal of many of these structures dates back to earlier times. Like one of his creations portrays Hanuman Dhoka the way it was in 1870 AD.

The various layers that the artist has successfully created in his creations provide a three-dimensional effect when viewed. While talking about this Sthapit said, “The most difficult part is such embossed work is to create the inner layers.”

His collection also includes some human portrayals like a girl wearing haku patasi and her entire accessories that go along with it, as well as sukunda in her hand that reflects ethnic Newari culture.

The exhibition is on till April 1. —HNS