Vijay Thapa

Vijay Thapa depicts social conflict and suffering human figures in his impressionist and cubist paintings. Like impressionists, he plays with light and shade in his canvas. His works are influenced by geometric forms of Cezanne and Picasso. His works depict tortured, anxity-ridden, disillusioned and rebellious human figures. In his paintings, he creates balance between native Nepali elements and modern techniques, concrete and abstract images, and warm and cool colours. He also depicts conflict between good and evil forces of the society, and suggests the victory of spiritual power through the symbolic forms.

Thapa’s works also depict the social ironies of contemporary Nepali society by exploiting some aspects of cubist and expressionist techniques. Breaking the linear surface of the objects, the artist suggests the depth through the use of geometric forms like circle, triangle, rectangle and parallelogram. He presents the various layers of reality at once.

“He has combined certain colours and lines in his paintings to generate intense emotional feelings, aspirations, innocence, complexities of life, natural and unnatural impacts of joy and sorrow upon life. His paintings not only centre entirely around social life in different dimensions but also reflect rays of hope and humbly warn against evils that are rampant in the world.” Thapa’s works revolt against socio-political corruption and domination.

The artist subverts the traditional icons and symbols and parodies the conventional significance. The expressionist colours speak equally well as the distorted images. Breaking linear form of the objects, the artist presents the layers of social reality through the use of geometric shapes.

Vijay Thapa’s compositions also depict the alienation and tragic vision of the contemporary youths. The human figures with bloody head and dark body are falling down from the height into chaotic depth. In Thapa’s compositions, as the characters lost the hope of living adjusting themselves within the complex surrounding, they become alienated. Frustration, melancholy and tragic feeling overshadow their consciousness and they attempt to escape from life. Poverty, unemployment and terrorism have created similar experience in the life of Nepali youths who are alienated and disillusioned.