“I just finished this one last night,” he points at one of the 16 paintings in the series, all in square compositions of 12 x 12”.[break]
“Even as a blank canvas, I see a square as a perfect balance,” states Swart, who used to work in horizontal compositions before he first came to Nepal as a Peace Corps Volunteer at Shree Gramya Secondary School in Palpa.
Swart taught at the school for three years from 2001 to 2004. In this recent trip this year, Swart has been teaching painting to third-year students at KUart as a visiting faculty.
While he can speak fluent Nepali, the conversation continues in English. “Working at the Rubin Museum of Art (New York), which consists of Himalayan, Newar and Tibetan art, one of the common images I saw was that of a mandala which are based on precise geometry,” he further explains the connection with squares.
As for the content within these squares, working with oil on canvas panels, Swart has attempted to reveal his thoughts on the Living Goddess, the Kumari as well as his bahinis in Palpa.
“For me, the Kumari is visually captivating and powerful with her crown, tika, jewelry and purity,” puts in Swart, who holds an MA degree in Art Education from Columbia University in New York, where he was acquainted with fellow artist Ashmina Ranjit. “But these paintings are about innocence and beauty of all children, especially girls, as much as it is about the Kumari.”
Swart’s small compositions are heavily dominated by rich vibrant colors of red, yellow and gold. Paint aside, he has also incorporated several local elements to express his thoughts in two dimensions.
“This one is about offerings,” he shares on number 14 where he has used abir (red powder), chura (glass bangles), chamal (rice grains), sequin stencils as well as flower petals.
One can notice a marked change in how the artist explored and advanced in the series. A major shift from rather haphazard looking compositions dominated by the eyes of the Kumari to thoughtful decisions in forms of neat, clear delineated shapes, colors and lines, appear after Kumari Lakshan # 8.
“That’s because the paintings at the beginning were based on my experiences from before,” says Swart and continues, “After arriving here, I spent a lot of time visiting the Kumari of Bhaktapur and observed festivals, which shaped my later works.”
Perhaps his talk, accompanying the exhibition, titled “Two Years and 20 Paintings” will reveal more of the artist and his works.
Kumari Lakshan: Layers of Purity opens on Friday, December 10 at KCAC at 4:30 pm. Swart’s talk will be held at 4 pm at the gallery on Sunday, December 12. The exhibition will remain open until December 14.
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