KATHMANDU: Time is abstract and it is constantly changing. And every life form on Earth is going forward with time — from being born to struggling for survival and in the end leaving this world at death.

Taking this very theme about time and more, artist Satya Shila Kashajoo has defined time in a surrealistic form in her solo exhibition 'Impermanence'. The exhibition began on August 28 at the Newa Chen Art Gallery, Patan.

She has used various motifs in her paintings such as clock, bubble, check patterns, leaves, moon, endless knot (one of the symbols from Astamatrika used in both Buddhism and Hinduism) and more. Clock in her painting symbolises time, while the bubble represents time’s quality that lasts only for a short period. Then moon and clouds signify the frequently changing time.

She has taken inspiration from surrealist Spanish artist Salvador Dali and has used the melting clocks in some of her paintings. One of them is ‘Melting Time’ where she has painted a huge circle on the rectangular canvas and in the left side of the circle there are colourful clocks — yellow, orange, brown, pink — that seem to be moving or dissolving round and round in the blue water. And outside the circle, the remaining space is covered in blue bubbles.

In the exhibition, ‘We Are All Visitors’ is a series of seven paintings. She has painted silhouettes showing the evolution of human form, from primitive man to today’s generation, who is busy working on his computer. Blue sky with white clouds are painted within the outline of the human figure. At the bottom of the canvas she has painted check patterns in light and dark shades of brown. About the paintings she expressed, “The check patterns are the symbol of struggle in life and in this series I have shown the development of human beings from the primitive days to today’s generation. Through the symbols used I have shown that time is changing and we are all here on this earth for a certain period only.”

The exhibition featuring 17 paintings with a dreamlike effect with pleasant colours continues till September 25.