Art is a torture. Art is salvation. Ok, let’s rephrase that- a troubled person creates art to find solace. A lot of artworks and comics by Rimishna Manandhar are a reflection of her inner struggle with herself. 

She started indulging in artwork because she was an awkward child at school. Little did she know, it had helped her become friends with small creatures, empathize with them and even be one of them. Rimishna, 26, has developed an artistic bond with these creatures and monsters that beautifully represent the affinity we all share with each other.

We make a lot of friends as we grow up. Some of them are our neighbor friends, some are school friends, some are brothers and sisters who become friends, some are cousins who are school friends as well as neighbor friends, and as we grow up we have college friends, group work friends, junior and senior friends. We often have that one friend who we are most comfortable with- a winsome companion, a trustworthy friend who knows us just the way we are and who is honest to us. Meow-cha- the cat is one such companion for Rimishna.

Rimishna discovered her companion cat much later in her life. She recalls the cat visiting her in her day-dreams and how she instantly bonded with it. Meow-cha, the cat is the friend of humor, distress, scribbling and rambling, and sometimes a friend who offers a reality check to the wandering Rimishna. An architect by training and currently a student of Master’s in Social Sustainable Development, Rimishna is an artist with a peculiar vision. Everything she looks at becomes her muse. And if they don’t, Meow-cha brings her to the ground and Rimishna continues going.

Rimishna frequently converses with her Meow-cha in her comics. Sometimes she has transient brawls with Meow-cha, one often punching the other. Meow-cha also encourages her, foments her romantic expressions, and appeases her enthusiasm. Meow-cha is also an evil cat who is amused at Rimishna’s sufferings, often igniting the truculence.

Her comics often make us think. Her wit is envious yet charming. If someone follows her closely at o_mimi_cha on Instagram, they’ll know she is such a humble, timid person with a great sense of humor.

“I used to draw in my sketchbooks and just store them. I never showed them to anyone. But after I got a smartphone, I slowly started posting in social media. I never thought I would get attention out of just expressing my thoughts. It’s amazing,” says Rimishna.

Rimishna started scribbling since a young age and she scribbles abstract characters whenever she feels like she has to say something- in form of comics, voice of a solitary person, doodles over a photo. Some of her artworks are showcased in the walls of Embassy Restaurant and 5th Corner Thakali Restaurant, among others. Art is the medium she feels she can express herself with. She has hundreds of artwork across various mediums- pencil, water color, color pencil, paint and ink, among others.

“If you see something and you have a pen and paper- you start drawing. You draw because that’s what you know. When I see something, I wonder how things got there or how someone in that context would feel. And I start drawing.”

Rimishna draws with empathy. Many artworks in social media leave us with a smirk whether it’s a cockroach’s sketch sobbing over the death of another cockroach, or a heart wrenched rat mourning the death of another rat. Sometimes these are little monsters who show up in a cup of tea or hug a hurt finger or mischievously distract Rimishna from her work. How we see the world is merely a truncated version of what Rimishna sees- and that’s what makes her an awe-inspiring as an artist.

Kalpana is an architect and a freelance writer.