The black walls of the Van Gogh Room come alive in a pastiche created by Ashim Shakya. As you step in, the surreal digital images created by this artist will reach out to you, almost as though they’re spilling out of the frames and blending with your thoughts and imagination.
Over a dozen of Shakya’s artwork created since 2012 are currently on display at the gallery in Dhokaima, Patan. The works are part of the Tulikaa Kala’s solo exhibition series, Kholo 2.0. The exhibit is showcasing works by 28 classic and contemporary Nepali artists, who work with photography, ceramics, printmaking, Paubha, sculpture and new media art.
His frizzy locks nestling around his nape, and his beard almost eclipsing his smile, Shakya surveys the displays to ensure everything in order— nervous, yet excited for his long-awaited debut art exhibition in Nepal.
As a child, Shakya was drawn towards physics and spent most of his days locked inside his room, fiddling with electronic gadgets. But those hours of being sequestered also came with his need to be independent and distant of all the societal confinements. And his art became the means through which he would express the energy that drives his soul.
“I think a lot,” Shakya tells Nepali Times. “If I put my heart and soul into something, I will finish it regardless of anything in the world and I find myself being completely immersed in it,” he smiles.
From doing brief animation courses in his late teens, he went on to join Srijana College of Fine Art, where he acquired skills in acrylic and oil paintings. But as someone who finds it hard to adhere to what the world views as ‘discipline’, he saw himself thriving outside of institutional learning.
Shakya make his way into digital art, and knew he had rediscovered his ground: “Digital art gave me the freedom to express my creativity and emotion in a short span of time and that is what drew me to it,” he says.
His method is simple: his artworks are an amalgamation of new media and traditional way of painting. But it was uncharted territory, and he was rejected when he applied to various graphic designing jobs because he did not have a strong portfolio.
“Most of them judged me on the basis of my tools rather than the content of my art,” he explains, as he stands amidst his own work. He watches them back, as though demonstrating how those who encounter his art feel— pushed into that realm of thoughts that blows one away into the surreal.
Of the many works that are on display, he mentions two artworks that are close to his heart. In terms of technical details, he appreciates his work, The Mahakal’s Epitome. But the process of working on Mellow Dwellings II is what has been close to his heart because of the emotional waves he experienced during its creation.
Shakya explains how this particular work was guided by his vision that propelled him to work day and night until it was done. “The combination of music, the crowd and infrastructure were lucid for me, when I was working. I could feel that I was a character in the piece and enjoyed the emotions that played inside my head.”
The artist is nocturnal. There are times when he suddenly wakes up from his dream at midnight, pulls out his brushes and begins to stroke until a finished creation lets him rest. “I don’t even take calls when I am working, I can’t take that responsibility,” he says.
Shakya has received a lot of attention on social media after the earthquake and blockade for his surrealistic digital images. His digital work depicting climate change through melting ice cubes, also won the CG Trader Digital Awards.
Animated temples floating above a valley shrouded in smoke and dust, fearsome manifestations of anthropomorphic gods and goddesses, and old Newa houses in the guise of string instruments are some of the images that have emerged from this restless mind.
Born and brought up in Kathmandu, Shakya uses the city as his muse, drawing inspiration from its rich history, culture, architecture and its dystopian urbanisation. Pressurise, the first painting in the blockade series shows the entire city burning to cook a single meal. He matches the colour tones with the erstwhile mood, using dark hues, and lots of red.
As a self-taught digital artist, Shakya has a completely original approach to his work. He brings his skills of traditional brush strokes and texture to the digital screen, making them look more like paintings on a canvas.
His work can have an almost psychedelic feel and he says art is the best way to liberate, both his mind and body, entering a process of creation that is tantamount to reminisce. “The universe is ever-evolving and I don’t take us human species too seriously. Earth can survive without us,” he laughs.
Shakya’s exhibition at Van Gogh room will run until 17 March.
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