Strokes of creative thought waves

KATHMANDU: Their waves of thought reveal the situation of society and their psychological aspects. This reflection of artists’ thought waves on canvas through various motifs and themes is delightful to watch. And you can experience it in THE group painting exhibition ‘Taranga’ that kicked off on December 28 at the Newa Chen Gallery, Patan.

Five artists — Krishna Gopal Shrestha, Sandhya Silwal, Sanjeet Maharjan, Sarita Dongol and Satya Shila Kashajoo — have showcased their works in the exhibition. It shows how things that normal people take for granted or do not remember to appreciate can turn into masterpieces when creative people work on the object/idea.

Using the used cell phone recharge cards, Maharjan has created his own portrait and a clock against a pale yellow backdrop. He has used the recharge card of Nepal Telecom brilliantly to create his own face. On top of his face he has created a huge white round clock using the cards to outline the shape — the clock hands indicate 9:55. The symbols of Facebook and Skype are on the bottom and top of the clock respectively. To give a darker shade to the facial feature, he has used the front side of the card that is green in colour and to give a lighter effect, he has used the backside of the card, white in colour.

About his painting Maharjan elaborated, “I didn’t have any plan to work with the cards but I just did not want to throw them away. I have been collecting the cards that I used since 2011. Through those cards I tried to reflect my feelings and things today’s generation are attracted to — being active on social media. The clock is going to strike 10:00 — it is an indication of one of the schemes of Nepal Telecom, that provided unlimited free call hours for its customers after 10:00 pm.”

Silwal’s painting, on the other hand, has depicted the usual patterns of life — arrival of day after night, death after birth, need of male and female species for giving birth to new life — using geometric shapes such as circle, triangle and more.

Likewise, Kashajoo has focused on the transformation of things in this world. She has realistically painted the blue sky with white clouds in a painting. And a green leaf has transformed into a transparent leaf with detailed veins and is floating in the air.

Then Dongol has captured chillies in her canvas to explore Mother Nature while Shrestha’s painting narrates his concern about the vanishing cultural heritage ruined during the earthquake.

Watch their knack for transforming ideas into artwork in the exhibition on till January 10.