■ love ballad of drowning manniquins

human agony as seen from sujan’s view

we are at a point in time that everything seems to be at a full stop. things have changed totally-art, science, religion and philosophy. perhaps not quite, human thoughts itself has changed rather than life. self-image of who we are is still there, but our past catches up with us. now we have become attuned that we create our own history, which we have been doing all along.

in such a volatile atmosphere, dealing with science, philosophy, art and religion, sujan chitrakar presents his inner drama with wood, glass, metal and other media. all of these objects contribute as examples for him for a personal view of utopian introspection…this is who i am. his first solo exhibition entitled “utopian introspection” took place in siddhartha art gallery.

there is a wide range of choices for us to pick a correct image that would express our purpose. there is so much to choose from those contradictions. sujan reaches out to solve the problem of identity analyzing himself.

he is free enough to search for it but can he really find it? the question will be answered in his second exhibit- “masticated faces”.

people think they will get rid of violence. have they forgotten that basically we are animals? after all survival of the fittest is a fact. this includes the politicians and the corporate world too. honesty used to be the best policy, now honesty is the best politics. war is the most acceptable phenomena in the world. life is cheap and death is an alternative. morality is dead for those who commit murder and for the other life is at an end.“masticated faces” bring out these issues. death is the hero and the artist reaches out for conscious reality.

is art necessary when there is such a hostile atmosphere? should we consider politics rather than art and literature? in an understanding of oneself is no longer important. the age of great change in history no longer occurs as a result of changes in the arts because art no longer is playing a vital role. therefore there is no depth in anything. no longer there is any unusual development, it all has been said before we must rediscover depth in art, because we want an everlasting existence of art more than ever.

social and religious upheavals result in terrorism and war. perhaps this is the beginning of another dark age. how can all this not influence nepal? here a new art emerges on the scene-that is installation which may be able to rescue us from a dark age.

most people say nepal is not ready for varied interpretation in art. is the confusion because of lack of understanding or the artists’ adaptation? many claim that possibility of expression on the canvas has not been thoroughly explored. why start difficult form of expression such as installation? here question arises-is work on canvas still valid than the new installation concepts? every thought in creating art is valuable no matter what its concept or material is. in its place through the years all art is equally important.

now, sujan’s perception deals with the drama of death. the artist wants to use three-dimensional objects- here masks of him to deeply affect the spectators.

here is an example of an art perhaps not installed but expressive as well. he presents an art that is intimate, which is not confirming yet has a deep meaning for him and perhaps for the spectators too. his many self-images are his many faces in complex experiences. they are serious and contemplative. they are not happy since our thoughts are reflected in our faces and his many faces are grim and desperate. he is dying psychologically along with them. they are the result of dwelling n the plight of our people in the oncoming future.

the artist is already experienced because he has expressed meaningful works already that the art conscious spectator can understand. here the concept may be morbid and futile but out of death that is inevitable rises the optimism of a new life.

alexander gargillis / saroj bajracharya