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KATHMANDU, Nov 19: As a follow-up to her previous body of works showcased in 2008, visual artist Erina Tamrakar has on display another collection of paintings at the Imago Dei Café in Nag Pokhari, Kathmandu. Titled “Silhouettes in Time-2,” the exhibition consists of an ensemble of acrylic and oil paintings saturated with primary colors red, yellow and blue.
 “I started using a lot of reds and blues after I went to Korea for a six-month workshop last year,” says Tamrakar and adds, “I became very patriotic while I was abroad and started using reds, blues and whites more heavily in my works.”
The subject of Tamrakar’s painting focus on women and umbrellas.
“For me, umbrellas are the best friends of women,” she says. Across her colorful works, the female figure is either holding an umbrella or is under one, perhaps taking refuge. Her figures, dressed in traditional Nepali clothes, are mostly in profile, as in Mithila artworks, and never face the viewer.
Tamrakar’s compositions vary from abstract forms to landscapes where her figures either dominate the frame or have been reduced to tiny brushstrokes. Tamrakar is mostly a figurative painter, and therefore, it is refreshing to see landscapes among her works.
“I participated in a workshop held at Nagarkot. Since then, I’ve been inspired to do more landscapes,” informs the artist, who is also one of the founders of Kasthamandap Art Studio in Patan.
One intriguing painting in this group of works is a dark forest landscape on a square canvas. The beauty of the painting is the drips of paint that Tamrakar has allowed to flow freely on the surface.
“I work directly on the canvas, and it takes layers before I finalize the composition,” says Tamrakar who works out of her imagination and doesn’t prepare any sketches on paper. Although her paintings are rich in colors, some of them lose their vibrancy against the bright cadmium yellow walls of the gallery.
“My works carry the message of encouragement for village women who are unaware of their potentials and are therefore unconfident,” she puts in.
Nonetheless, her paintings are being shown in the city, not in the villages. “Well, I hope that organizations who work for women will be able to impart my message,” justifies Tamrakar and further asserts, “I’m not a feminist artist, though.”
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