Many of us have tons of unused newspapers and papers lying in our storerooms—considered useless trash. Nonetheless, artists are turning waste papers and newspapers into attractive artwork. Artist Sandhya Silwal is no exception. She has cut out Lokta paper and newspapers into intricate details on her latest solo exhibition.

 She is fond of cutting papers and transforming them to various art forms.  She reckons that cutting paper and creating images give a therapeutic feeling and help her to heal all the sufferings of life. “I prefer paper cut works over paintings. I metaphorically take this kind of work as a therapy for peace of mind. “Cutting paper reduces the negativity from in my life,” Silwal said. 

A total of 11 cutout artworks entitled ‘Tattva’ is being showcased at Dalai la Art Space, Thamel, from Wednesday.  Each of the artworks portrays her internal journey to spirituality. The journey is based on Hinduism and Buddhism philosophies. Silwal believes human body is interrelated with ‘Pancha Tattva’, the five natural elements: earth, water, fire, air and space.  “According to religious beliefs, every human body is made from these five elements.  And these elements also dissolve to their respective forms after the body’s death. Consequently, it can balance the cycle of nature,” she said.

‘Devotion’ is one of her artworks for display. It is a cutout of Lokta paper and portrayed the devotion of a bee. 

She artistically crafted the paper into bees on honeycomb with her signature intricate pattern.  Through this work, she embodies the bees as laborious insects while making honey. Besides, honeycomb is in a hexagonal shape. It depicts the molecule in every living and non-living things in universe which are interconnected with each other. 

The exhibition is slated to run till January 8.