KATHMANDU, Dec 21: An exhibition by sculptor Shyam Krishna Shrestha ‘Amulya Thopa’ kicked off on December 15 at Nepal Art Council, Babermahal. 

Shrestha had begun working for his first solo exhibition after completing his Masters Degree in fine arts from Tribhuwan University in 2013. Shrestha’s sculptures are based on themes of motherhood, war, natural disaster and feelings, among others.

In the exhibition, 22 sculptures of different sizes and shapes have been put on display where his major motifs are humans, Lord Shiva and stone taps in dream like forms. For Shrestha, creating sculptures are his way of expressing feelings and experiences. Most of the sculptures are made of fiber glass, while some are made up of marble, wood and terracotta. The exhibition is named after the name of Shrestha’s favorite sculpture ‘Amulya Thopa’ which signifies the importance of traditional stone spouts. 

Shrestha said he had tried to present the combination of traditional and modern Nepali arts at the exhibition. His sculpture ‘Mahadev’ is the biggest one at the exhibition. Through the sculpture, he has shown an angry avatar of Lord Mahadev sitting on a bull with his trishul (a traditional Hindu weapon). The sculpture has realistic expressions and can scare the onlookers. 

About the sculpture Shrestha said, “Usually we think god lives above the clouds so the bottom of this sculpture symbolizes cloud where Lord Shiva is made up of fiber glass. It took me 10 months to complete this sculpture whose size is height 9x11 ft.”

Likewise, ‘Prashab’ another sculpture at ‘Amulya Thopa’ is made up of fiber glass. In this sculpture, a woman is crying with pain as her stomach is open with a baby inside of it. Shrestha said the sculpture shows labor pain. 

The exhibition is slated to continue till December 23.