Erina's 'Umbrella of Love' at Siddhartha Art Gallery
Artist Erina Tamrakar has come up with her second solo painting exhibition
of the year, which clearly depicts the metamorphosis her imagery and
motifs are going through when seen on the backdrop of her previous works.
Titled "Silhouettes in Time", the paintings of the talented young artist
put up for display at the Siddhartha Art Gallery in Babarmahal Revisited
in the capital from May 13 seems to be a gradual evolvement from her 2007
exhibition titled "Mirror of Woman".
Curvaceous, very sensuous female form can be seen highlighted in most of
the paintings on display: sometimes alone in the woods or against
crumbling ruins, sometimes going about her business with an umbrella, and
with her lover among flowers and falling leaves.
In the words of Sangeeta Thapa, art curator/director of Siddhartha Gallery
who regularly writes on Nepali art, the recurring motif in Erina's
paintings are rapturous women revealing their sensuality in discreet
isolation or the joy of motherhood. She says this marks a clear departure
from her earlier recurring imagery -- dejected rural women who suffered
under the load of their daily chores
"Nature plays an important role in these paintings. Flowers, leaves and
vines are used to connect the past with the present and to root the female
form in nature," says Thapa in her introduction to the artist work, "Erina's flowers represents the beauty, vulnerability and lingering
fragrance of a woman."
Talking about her paintings on display, Erina says, "In some of my
paintings I have tried to capture the mood of people from different walks
of life. I have used the umbrella as a simple motif to portray many
different emotions."
According to her, the umbrella in her paintings not only serves as a
symbol of feminine character, but is also linked to a host of situations
that make it a powerful metaphor of life. She thinks umbrellas are not
only things to protect you from rain or shine, but according to the poem
she has written on her paintings, can also be "An umbrella of the
oppressed/ An umbrella of the happy/ A damaged umbrella, A broken
umbrella/ An umbrella of no 'use'/ A shade for the beggars and for
tears.,/an umbrella for the poor/ An umbrella of love/ Life's umbrella/ We
live with the umbrella/ The umbrella of all the shadows of the other
umbrellas/ and the umbrella of all the shadow people.
Paintings on display are all based on acrylic and their price ranges from
Rs 20,000 to Rs 60,000. The exhibition will run all through May. nepalnews.com ag May 14 08
