Even though art just happens when the body, mind and soul is ready to receive it after years of preparation, explanation of the unexplainable has enticed some of the greatest intellects of the world.[break]
“All art is but imitation of nature,” declared the Stoic philosopher, Roman statesman and pioneering dramatist Seneca.
But then what exactly is nature?
Nature, according to ancient Hindu sages, is formed of five elements: Earth, water, fire, air, and ether. The essence of being—existence and emotions—is composed of these five elements. The element that is to dominate a particular work of an art depends upon the temperament of an artiste.
Sangee Shrestha’s obsession is faces. She seems to enjoy moods of the rock inside the individual.
Perhaps it is not sexist to hold that all elements of nature are most pronounced in female figures. The growl of innocent streams, and the calmness of deep seas. The chill of the mountain wind, and the shrill of desert storms. The fluidity of the rain-drenched soil, and the solidity of the baked earth. The rage of the inferno, and the soothing fire of the hearth. The emptiness atop a mountain, and the blankness inside a hole.
Sangee may not be a feminist, but she depicts her women’s faces as the strongest and sternest of the earth—the rock.
Rocks are geometric figures, and it is possible to capture their vibrancy in two dimensions. The viewer is left free to interpret the third facet of the figure. That could be the reason some critics have labeled Sangee’s work as cubist. However, labeling is again merely an exercise of understanding.
Cubism was an early 20th century European art movement characterized by the rendering of forms as simplified planes, lines, and geometric shapes. Sangee may have been inspired by cubism—art schools are producers of uniformity—but she seems to be looking for her own style and identity in painting.
A frame looks like and assembly of lines and colors. Look closely and there is a face. Angles and perpendiculars seem to be hanging from nowhere, but it may as well be a staircase to heavens suspended in the air. Are some of those rectangles merging into each other representation of split personality? The meaning of inseparable shadow has to wait for observation of the same painting from different angles. The bond of sisterhood is relatively easy to understand from yet another group of faces.
Sangee has been known for her overwhelming creations of installation art. Her paintings are no less expressive despite her reliance upon straight lines and avoidance of curves.
Born and brought up in Kathmandu, Sangee studied fine arts, history, culture, and archaeology at the Tribhuvan University. Among her numerous group and solo exhibitions in Nepal and abroad, the “Bichalit Bartaman” (troubled times) installation at Basantpur, and the “Abyakta Abhibyaktiharu” (unexpressed expressions) solo show at the Siddhartha Art Gallery in 2009 have been most remarkable. Her works have also been exhibited in Japan, Germany, the USA, and the UK.
For all her attainments, Sangee is an unassuming person, and looks at her works as a continuing process of learning. She is a young artiste, and perhaps the best from her is yet to come.
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