Seema Sharma Shah ( Dr )
Seema Sharma Shah’s graphic works depict the images of ancient Nepali sculpture and architecture, Nepali cultural rituals and Hindu and Buddhist mythologies. Hindu temples, Buddhist stupas, Hindu gods and goddesses, Buddha and Buddhist monks are the recurrent images in her paintings. The images look as if they are “bursting out of a deep mystic past.” Her works create a continuum of motifs and symbols from the religio-cultural life of medieval Kahmandu and suggest a mystic journey-leading a viewer in a deep dream world filled with forms and imagery from the antiquity.
Seema Sharma Shah’s graphic works depict the images of ancient Nepali sculpture and architecture, Nepali cultural rituals and Hindu and Buddhist mythologies. Hindu temples, Buddhist stupas, Hindu gods and goddesses, Buddha and Buddhist monks are the recurrent images in her paintings. The images look as if they are “bursting out of a deep mystic past.” Her works create a continuum of motifs and symbols from the religio-cultural life of medieval Kahmandu and suggest a mystic journey-leading a viewer in a deep dream world filled with forms and imagery from the antiquity.
Shah’s works are primarily concerned with the vision of the mystery of life in terms of spiritual consciousness. She draws our attention to awesome universal mysteries and incomprehensive power of various gods and goddesses drawn basically from Hindu myths. The use of surrealistic, dream-like imagery, in some works, however, defies any fixed interpretation and reflects the inexplicable spiritual realm of the sub-conscious.
She does not present the mythical and religious images as they appear in reality and represented in the myths, but combines them with free association. Her mystical and magical graphic works appeal for the spiritual, harmonious and peaceful Nepal.
Seema Sharma Shah’s inter-textual works exploit the technique of graphic art, etching, with the religious and cultural images. The artist has taken the heterogeneous contents and subject matters. Her works are the assemblages of images of Nepali culture, Hindu and Buddhist religions, stone sculptures and wood-carving and Nepali architecture. The images and icons are combined with free association as in dream. The artist has mixed a little of everything and the parts can be separated from the whole and adored for themselves. The works are inter-textual pastiche, for they take the images of earlier arts like sculptures of Budhanilkantha and Bhairava, woodcarving of the Kumari, architecture of temples and stupa, and cultural images of Bhotejatra(a ceremony of displaying the vest of deity Machhindranath). The artist juxtaposes heterogeneous images of Nepali culture, and Hindu and Buddhist religions using surrealist technique.
The mélange of heterogeneous cultural images suggests religious harmony. The images of Hindu temples and Buddhist stupas are juxtaposed. The images of the living goddess Kumari and Bhotejatra are equally popular among Buddhists and Hindus. Bhotejatra and Kumarijatra are observed by both Hindus and Buddhists. Kumari is selected from the Buddhist Shakya family and worshipped also by other people. The depiction of such cultural images represents the religious harmony in Nepal. Despite the fact that the artist has exploited the techniques of surrealism and etching, she reintegrated the heterogeneous native religious and cultural images in her artworks.
Dr. Seema Sharma Shah
(Associate professor Ex-HOD Central Department of Fine Arts,
Tribhuwan University, Kathmandu, Nepal)
Birth : 1964, Varanasi, India (Nepalese citizen)
Education : B.F.A. in Painting (1988), Banaras Hindu University, India
M.F.A. in Painting (1990), Banaras Hindu University, India
Ph.D. in History of Art (1998), Banaras Hindu University, India
Selected Solo Shows
2017 Interspiritual, Organized by Gallery Ganesha, New Delhi, India
2016 Park Art Gallery, Kathmandu, Nepal
2014 Shreedharni Art Gallery, Organized by Gallery Ganesha, New Delhi, India
2013 Expression of devotion, Siddhartha Art Gallery, Kathmandu, Nepal
2012 A Unique Glimpse in Divinity, Organized by Gaekward Art Foundation, New Delhi, India
2009 A Mystical Odyssey, Jahangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, India
2007 Sacred Realms, Siddhartha Art Gallery, Kathmandu, Nepal
2007 Sangrilla, Juno Art Gallery, Degu City, South Korea
2005 Mystical Song, Park Gallery, Kathmandu, Nepal
2003 Explorations of Magical Realm, Siddhartha Art Gallery, Kathmandu, Nepal
2000 Exhibition of Etchings, Siddhartha Art Gallery, Kathmandu, Nepal
1997 Exhibition of Etchings, J Art Gallery, Kathmandu, Nepal
1995 Exhibition of Etchings, Srijana Contemporary Art Gallery, Kathmandu, Nepal
1989 Faculty of Visual Arts, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India
Selected Group Shows
Participated in more than 70 shows held nationally and internationally in Japan, Korea, USA, UK, the Netherlands, France, India, Scotland, and Bangladesh.
2018 6th International Triennial, Bentara Budaya Jakarta, Indonesia
2018 Xu Yuan International Print Biennial, Chin
2018 5th Bangkok Triennial International Print and Drawing Exhibition, Silpakorn University, Thailand
2018 1st Print Making Biennial, India
2014 Art Fest Doral, Miami, FL USA
2013 Art Fest Doral, Miami, FL USA
2013 Chanting Icons, India Habitat Centre, Organized by Gallery One, New Delhi, India
2012 Chanting Icons, India Habitat Centre, Organized by Gallery One, New Delhi, India
2008 Double Vision, Kunstcentrum Haarlem, Haarlem, the Netherlands
2008 Double Vision, Siddhartha Art Gallery, Kathmandu, Nepal
2007 Double Vision, Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
2006 7th Mondial de’l Estampe et de’l Gravure Originale Triennale de Chamalieres, France
2006 11th Asian Art Biennial, Dhaka, Bangladesh
2006 Nepali Contemporary Art Show, Alpha Art Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
2003 6th Mondial de’l Estampe et de’l Gravure Originale Triennale de Chamalieres, France
1994 The 14th Exhibition of Korean Graphics Society, Kyungin Art Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
Awards
2018 Honorable Mention, 1st Print Making Biennial, India
2014 Best Etching Award, Art Fest Doral, Miami, FL, USA
2013 Best Etching Award, Art Fest Doral, Miami, FL, USA
1992 Best Exhibit Award, All India Exhibition of Arts Amritsar, India
1990 Merit Award, Faculty of Visual Arts Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India
1990 Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Award, New Delhi, India
1990 & 1984 Annual Arts Exhibition Faculty of Visual Arts Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India