Photo Courtesy: Taragaon Museum

A painting exhibition ‘Miraculous Places’ by German artist Dagmar Mathes is on display at Taragaon Museum, Boudha. The exhibition began on Tuesday where Paula Werner, Secretary of Culture from the German Embassy inaugurated the exhibition.

According to a press statement released by Taragaon Museum, Mathes came to Nepal for the first time in 1993. She accompanied her husband (the director for seven years of the Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project under the University of Hamburg) on many expeditions into what at the time were still remote and unspoiled regions of the Himalaya.

Quoting her, the press statement stated, “My fascination with the country and its unique natural wealth of fauna and flora developed into an inspiration for my painting. Rock formations surrounded by mountain streams, wild water, wilderness of forests and trees, are the motifs that move me, inviting for an artistic engagement with them. A further great source of enrichment for my art came from discovering the Nepali lokta paper. It has altered the way I work and influences the expressiveness of my paintings. Experimenting with this paper made of natural fiber, along with the use of herbal substances, like spices and seeds, gets me into the process of compression of finding the structures of my picture. Collage-like compositions dominates the character of many of my paintings.”

For a number of years Mathes has been presenting her work in Kathmandu in the Park Gallery, Siddhartha Art Gallery and in the halls of the GIZ (formerly GTZ). Mathes currently lives in Vienna, Austria, but her ties to Nepal have never faded. “My favorite working place continues to be here in Boudha.”

The exhibition continues till April 28.