sujan chitrakar belongs to a historic community of traditional painters'-chitrakars- who are primarily responsible for the growth and development of the art of painting in nepal (kathmandu valley) - manifested in the religious paintings - paubha (thang-ka) and other ritual arts.brought up within this significant enfold of a rich tradition, sujan, however as very few other, has opted to express himself through a different visual language other than the home-grown art practices.this may have been the result of the academic discipline he has followed during his fine art education or is the outcome of his strong urge for an independent self-expression through a contemporary visual language, the mode which traditional art gives less priority to.

sujan chitrakar chooses strong conceptual contents to comprise with varied mode of expressions be it installations, videos, or performances. he feels one need not confine him/herself from the stylistic resemblance from the earlier works. as a result his work today stands alone high and above with strong conceptual and contextual contents expressed through justifiable visual mode. his works range from satire to statement, purest joy to his desolated moment, utopian fantasy to materialistic practicality, yet he balances his expressions through his ample understanding of visual design and trans-personalising capacity. his subtle interpretations of his global realities and his efforts to share his views through his visual tools indeed validate him to be dubbed as a contemporary young artist of nepal.

thus the visual impact of his art is essentially trans-national. however, it is also fair to add that it is a unique amalgamation of his deep-rooted indigenous psyche, his contemporary thoughts and his consummated visual language.in the overall context of nepali art, sujan today also stands as a successful art educator with a clear and distinct vision. sujan as an art teacher and the academic programme coordinator, centre for art and design, kathmandu university, he began and continues to provide a strong sense of direction in creative thinking and disseminate his students the way to transform from an academic to a creative genre. moreover, this is at a time when there persists a simmering state of confusion and bewilderment, sujan's guidance with a distinct dimension has begun to yield absolutely a new confident generation of creative artist in nepal. this invaluable task – the process of 'making new generations in art' certainly do deserve a due acknowledgment. and it does present a picture of a great hope and achievement.

in addition, his occasional forays as an illustrator and a graphic designer – specially related to numerous children's literature, have helped him to carve yet another creative niche and also reflect his continued appetite for wider space for creation.

today sujan remains one of the very few young and promising artists of nepal who easily blends installation with other media in a complete harmony so as to represent totally a new generation of art and the artists. sujan has the ability to embrace comfortably all the changing realities taking place in global art.
madan chitrakar
art writer