Continuum

Artist Sunita Rana’s imaginary locations transfer the viewer to a dream world: ethereal light shines through trees with red, yellow and pink leaves, and the water in ponds gives a sense of tranquillity. Rana’s exhibition, Continuum, at GG Machaan, captures her artistic vision of nature.

“I think art has no boundaries, and neither do nature and life. We all come from nature, and go back into nature. That is why my art is mostly focused on this subject,” says Rana, who is also president of the Women Artists’ Group of Nepal (WAGON).

Rana’s series on nature is a visual delight, with surreal landscapes that blend imagination and reality. In one, we see a wide plain full of colourful trees, reminding one of the hills of Nepal, but the glittering golden and lavender leaves are more imaginary than real. In another, a lush forest is shown near a pond, but only the forest’s airborne elements are reflected on the water surface, not the actual trees.

There are green trees in the forest, and white trees made of lightning in the sky. Rana has rendered all the elements of nature – trees, rocks, water – with the precision of a realistic painter, but added her own fantasy elements to beautify them.

Read also: Nepal's bird family, Smriti Basnet

Her other favourite theme is women. She has drawn them in exotic locations like Mustang, or framed them in contrasting colours to highlight their features. In one piece, a woman wearing peacock feathers stands out from the background of men milling around.

“Women have a large role to play in society, but they are often shown in the background. I wanted to change that by bringing them out front and highlighting them,” says Rana.

A visual artist who works in multiple mediums, Rana has also done installations and sculpting, but this exhibition showcases her various styles of painting. It includes monochrome pieces and some abstract works in dark browns and black. Rana's work is notable for its cheerful use of colours that also impart a sense of serenity.

Read also: The craft of art, Sewa Bhattarai

Continuum

GG Machaan, Jhamsikhel