KATHMANDU, April 29: It a universal truth that an artist needs passion more than s/he needs degrees; Milan Rai, 27, is one such artist who dropped out of high school to pursue his passion for art. Born in Dharan, Milan was fond of drawing and painting since childhood.
His tendency to observe and appreciate nature and the ability to appreciate culture became so deep rooted that he began his own artistic journey in Kathmandu as an aesthetic photographer and painter.
He is currently working on his art show titled Ekphrasis, which means artistically interpreting another form of art in Greek.
A concept that keeps an original concept of art evolving constantly, Milan’s show will have a musical performance with poetry done collectively by professional models, theatre artists and musicians who will be performing their interpretation of his paintings.
“It’s my soul,” says the artist who had to struggle as a young artist to come up with the concept of Ekprasis.
Hardworking and determined, Milan knows no compromise and has worked as a one man army, from being a model coordinator to event manager apart from being the Art Director for the show.
One of the most gureling aspects of putting together this show according to him has been to explain the relatively new concept to artists and sponsors.
He shares, “If I were abroad, I would probably be lost among hundreds of struggling artists. The challenge here was to convince people about my work. After several rejections and attempts of hopeful conversations, I managed to move ahead with the event.”
He explains that he traveled to several parts on Nepal to gather concept for his paintings which he describes as, “I dreamt of bringing something unique and big, with a vision of autumn fields, of my lost spring with a mixture of complicated feelings that encouraged me to interpret life differently and a desire to turn that vision into reality .”
His photo shoot for the event creatively express deep human emotions in an amusingly artistic manner.
He expresses his emotions involved artistically, “I absorbed the pain, rejection and difficulties that I went through and now I realized that the pain passes away, only the beauty of it remains along with satisfaction.”
Milan who has faced many ups and downs to reach to this level feels art is art is still confined to those who understand and appreciate it in Nepal. But he is confident that with this event a tight relationship between art and the audience will be made as it deals with the issue of aesthetic value and its close involvement with human reality.
“I don’t want my audience to sit around and just wait to be entertained but to have little patience to feel this endlessly expressive story,” he adds.
Ekphrasis is set to roll on May 5, with poetry by a German artist, music coordinated by Dilasha Shrestha, performances by theatre artists such as Menuka Pradhan and models include Asmee Shrestha.
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