A Reading Path Down a Rabbit Hole: Sneha Shrestha

Mittal South Asia Institute

As I explored these sacred artifacts, I found myself pondering the shift in how the objects continue their lives when removed from their original context and placed within sterile environments. Do they retain their spiritual nature when divorced from their intended purpose?

Installation view MENDING AND MOVING featuring THE MENU, CALLING THE EARTH TO WITNESS

Rubin Museum

We’re living, breathing people who practice this culture on a daily basis. And this is what it looks like now. That’s what I want to share at the heart of this. I think it’s an important message to share, not just to the Himalayan diaspora but to people in general, that cultures all over the world are resilient and evolving in different ways. There are contemporary practices that have basis in centuries-old traditions. And through that we find our community too.

Misstropolis

RH: Your work is physical because your marks are often large and you have to get your brushstrokes right the first time. Can you talk about how the body contributes to meaning in your work?

SS: I see my paintings as visual meditations. How much pressure I put in the brush really depends on what sort of breath I’m taking in, so I think my breath and my brush strokes create my paintings. And meditation at the end of the day is a regulation of your breath, so you have visual meditation on my paintings.

Sneha Shrestha aka IMAGINE, “For Cambridge, With Love from Nepal.” Public mural commissioned by the Central Square Business District which depicts a line from a Nepali poem: “Success is what is in our hearts; not where we come from.”

Epicenter NYC

After I graduated, I worked there for a couple of years and then I moved back to Nepal for about four years. I worked on founding the Children’s Art Museum in Nepal, and came back to the States for graduate school. After graduate school, I decided, wow, I really need to give this art thing a full-time try. I sat my parents down and told them, just give me one year. It has been eight years since

Q: Barry McGee’s explorations of hand-drawn vernacular typography and street art comes to mind.

A: Yeah, I wanted to make that connection with the aesthetics of it and I’m obsessed with graffiti hand styles too. So my handwriting felt like it was my authentic way of sharing my culture. At the same time, I think one of the most important elements of the sculpture is the fabric on top that you see, the red fabric that’s sort of like fluttering in the wind. So the sculpture is about a living culture and it is an homage to the Himalayan diaspora’s living traditions, as in, we’re not just people of the past, we have this culture that evolves with time and we practice them in contemporary settings as well, let’s celebrate that.

IMAGINE (a.k.a. Sneha Shrestha) (b. 1987, Kathmandu, Nepal); About a Living Culture; powder coated steel and fabric; 2025; Diversity Plaza, Queens, New York City; courtesy of the artist, presented by the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art and New York City Department of Transportation; fabricated in collaboration with Black Cat Labs; photo by Filip Wolak

The Argo

Q: How would you describe your artistic style, and what themes do your works express?

A: My style blends my native letters, Devanagari, into my stylized handwriting, and I explore themes of identity, belonging and cultural memory.

Image via the artist’s website

The Huntington News

Shrestha moved to Boston and joined Artists for Humanity, a South Boston based organization that supports young artists. There she met Rob “ProBlak” Gibbs, a Roxbury artist who co-founded the organization and introduced her to American Graffiti. The experience inspired Shrestha to make a social impact by sharing her love of art and expression.

Sneha Shrestha, “Untitled 12,” 2023. Acrylic and oil pastel on canvas. 24 x 18 in. © Sneha Shrestha, a.k.a. IMAGINE. Photography by Jane Louie Photography.

The orange and blue theme scheme reminds Shrestha of a flower with 100 petals that blooms during the festival of Tihar –– also known as the festival of lights. Around November, Tihar is celebrated with colorful flowers to adorn garlands and doorways and to conduct blessing ceremonies.

WBUR News

I have a steady mindfulness practice, and I reached for it during this dire time. So, I wrote the letter over and over again while regulating my breath in a pattern to paint each one with the same even pressure on the brush. When I repeated the intention — same breathing, same pressure, same focus — I could get the letter just about the same each time.

IMAGINE, Manuscript dui, Manuscript tin, and Manuscript ek, (top to bottom), 2018