KATHMANDU: Harmonious mixing of childhood memories and present spiritual awakenings — this is what Binod Pradhan’s exhibition ‘Sacred Spaces’ speaks about. Images of chaityas, bahals, temples and stupas of Kathmandu in between bright colours pretty much sums up his canvas. The artist, who grew up among these structures, has a special emotional attachment towards these traditional architectures. The figurative presence of Buddha — hands, face or the whole body — and also some halo-like outlines and cloud-like structures give each creation a heavenly feel. His retreat at Osho Tapoban and his trips to India, Sri Lanka and the latest one to Bhutan has had indelible impression on the artist.

Artist Pradhan said, “My state of mind can be categorised into before and after my trip to Sri Lanka, India and Bhutan. The stagnation in expression has been eliminated by my experiences in Bhutan.”

Bright shades of green, yellow, red and blue dominate his canvas and he doesn’t use outlines to create the structures. Thus the use of vibrant hues makes his style even more enhanced. He has accomplished in creating a fine and easy merger of colours in the canvas. In some pieces, he has created a two parts — vertical or horizontal — bringing out two moods.

The presence of various religious structures and characters is not that prominent but in rather subtle way has successfully created a divine effect pertaining to the symbols of sacred space.

Japanese Ambassador to Nepal Tatsuo Mizuno, who inaugurated the exhibition on January 15 at Siddhartha Art gallery said, “Such beautiful paintings come as a relief to the difficult times we face in life. I believe art can take a significant role in spiritual bonding between two countries.”

The exhibition is on till February 5.

Monochromatic expressions KATHMANDU: “Blind journey is about the dreams we have. They take us on a blind journey, where everything can happen, everything can be imagined, and everything can take the colours of the emotions that emerge in us,” says artist Krishna Thing, whose first solo exhibition titled ‘Blind Journey’ opened at the Lazimpat Gallery Café on January 16.

At a glance, his canvas looks like a maze of lines and geometric shapes but each creation tells a story. The artist worked as a thanka painter for almost 15 years and its influence is still visible in his style. Somewhat abstract, Thing says his paintings are more decipherable that other abstract creations.

One can see various mythological characters and stories in his paintings — from Parikrama which shows the Vishwa Roop of lord Ganesha to the mythological story of Sagarmanthan when Lord Shiva drank poison. His another piece titled Surekoti represents the formation of our planet earth from a part of the Sun.

Fine lines and excellent detailing is the high point of his style. He said that while creating a piece he just gets engrossed and images just appear in his mind. And a viewer also has to look at his work with much attention to find the various structures the artist has created in the various nooks and crannies of the canvas.

Most of his creations are monochromatic with only one or two created using more than one colour. This was a conscious decision as each colour represents certain notion, which fits the theme of the painting. “I define things and show meanings with colours,” he said.

For example red is colour of creation and blue peace.

His piece titled Tandhap shows a structure in the tandap position on flames, while his favourite one titled Blind journey has a blind man at the corner and rest of the structures are his imagination. He has also included several pairs of eyes all over the canvas, which he said talks about a blind man’s search for light.

The exhibition is on till January 23.