Kathmandu

The flora and fauna of the Earth make the world a beautiful place to live in. Each species has its unique characteristics, and this very fact makes them fascinating. It is even more appealing to look at these wonders of nature through the eyes of artists. The art exhibition ‘Art for Nature’ at Taragaon Museum, Boudha provides you with an opportunity to be close with these beautiful creations of nature.

The exhibition that began on March 13 features paintings and sculptures of animals, birds, landscapes and more by 42 national and international artists. They had participated in ‘Art for Nature International Workshop’ in December 2015 before putting forth this exhibition.

Most of the artists have painted birds on canvas. Nepali artists Ragini Upadhyay Grela, Pradhi Rana and Rajan Kaphle have used peacock as their motif in semi-abstract form. Upadhyay Grela with the use of acrylic on canvas has painted a huge peacock in the backdrop of sky blue. Hues of ink blue, black, orange, yellow and white have enhanced the beauty of this peacock, that is in the centre of the canvas. And in each corner of the canvas, you can see smaller peacocks in white and blue. But Rana and Kaphle have portrayed this beautiful bird in green, blue, black and gold shades.

However British artist James Nash, using pastel on paper, has painted realistic peacock that seems to be taking flight.

Sculptor Bijaya Maharajan too has give realistic touch to his works. He has created a stunning sculpture of a herd of rhino in copper colour using marble casting. His another work showcases the fight between a tiger and a

crocodile.

Talking about his experience at the workshop Maharjan expressed, “Participating in the workshop with different artists and being able to look at the developments of their works is a great learning experience.”

And the productive workshop has been able to put forth this exhibition where “despite using similar motifs, the artists have created diverse works”.

To give new dimension to their creativity, the artists have used unique techniques and materials. Artist Prakash Thapa has created a realistic artwork — of tiger and elephant — using sand on canvas. Another artist Gopal Das Shrestha using

elephant dung has created a beautiful elephant with tribal decorative patterns.

The exhibition is on till March 20.