For Cambridge, With Love from Nepal
For Cambridge, With Love from Nepal
Central Square, Cambridge, MA
2018
60ft
This MIT building in the heart of Cambridge was commissioned by the Central Square Business District. I wanted to create a public artwork that would speak to all the different people that make up the neighborhood - the immigrant families in the Port Neighborhood, the mom and pops stores and the MIT students. I decided to write a line from a Nepali poem that speaks of meritocracy and how we should define success ourselves and not let society define it for us. “Success is what is in our hearts; not where we come from.” More on WGBH interview
Process photos by Todd Mazer
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Calling the Earth to Witness
Gardner Museum, Boston
2020
5ft X 20ft
Calling the Earth to Witness is a sculptural work commissioned by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s Bertucci Studio. For this work, I found inspiration in the sacred, the regal and the cherished.
While exploring the museum’s collection, the only object that most closely represented my culture was this statue of Buddha. Taking this figure as a lead, I wanted to find more gold looking objects. When I saw the Simone Martini piece, it reminded me of Nepali temples I grew up around in Kathmandu. The common factor between these two works of art both signified devotion, respect and love. But who gets to be under these golden arches?
The sculpture was created by almost one hundred shapes of the first letter of the Nepali alphabet “ka”. It represents beginnings and foundations of language and communication. How do we verbally and visually communicate who gets to be under these golden arches?
The sculpture aims to transform the studio into a community space where everyone can belong under the golden arches.
See full interview here. The sculpture was fabricated and engineered by Black Cat Labs
Protect What You Love
Protect What You Love
East Boston, MA, USA
2020
40ft X 1000ft
This mural was in support of the International Sea Walls Foundation and Linda Cabot to raise awareness about the oceans. I wrote “Protect what you love” as the mantra on these three mandalas not only to spread the message of taking care of the oceans but also raising awareness about coastal flooding in Boston that will mostly affects communities of color. My work also transformed the mostly white waterfront to an area that felt welcoming to the surrounding POC families
Panorama photo by Jane Louie
Last photo by Dominic Chavez
Food for the Heart
Food for the Heart
Long Beach, CA
2022
30ft X 60ft
Painting this building was a real treat! The space is a ghost kitchen where people from different backgrounds come and share their food. Food for me is also a way to share your heart with people that matter to you. So I took this opportunity to share something about Nepali cooking. The background color of this mural is the color of turmeric my aunt would grind and my mom would use in her kitchen. Turmeric is also the most used spice in South Asia! The lettering on the mural lists the ingredients for a Nepali basic - Daahl! It’s a yellow lentil soup we eat with rice and side of curry. The term Daahl Bhaat might be familiar to you if you’ve visited Kathmandu.
I also enjoyed painting this wall because of it’s unique architecture. The arched windows remind me of Newari temples and it inspired me to treat the ledge of the building the same way as temples usually are - adorned with phrases or words.
First photo by Serena Au
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Mindful Mandalas
2019
30ft X 60ft
This mural is inspired by Nepali, Tibetan and Japanese Buddhist mandalas and practices of finding peace and calm in them. Additionally, my art practice has also been inspired by American abstract expressionism, graffiti art and Arabic calligraphy so I bring these elements into the work. I wish to share this multi-cultural practice with the community and help them get closer to finding their own inner peace.
I installed over 200 personal mandalas made by over a hundred children whom I worked with to help them explore what a calm mind might look like for them.
The personal mandalas are housed inside three larger mandalas, similar to star mandala paintings. The background “fabric” mimic silk brocades sewn around traditional thangka paintings I grew up seeing in Kathmandu.
Boston Children’s Museum
Love and Maya
2022
9ft X 32ft
Love and Maya is an interactive installation where I created space for visitors to explore how to show love and respect to others. Drawing inspiration from the Stop Asian Hate movement that advocates against violence targeting Asian communities, and the Very Asian campaign, which centers AAPI identities and highlights intracultural diversity, I have shared a vision for how people can show love to others and transcend differences, particularly those rooted in race, culture, and language.
I designed Love and Maya to encourage collaboration between visitors within the gallery space, including those who may not speak the same language. Visitors will have the opportunity to work together to light up two paintings that stand out from the floor-to-ceiling hand painted murals. On one painting “Love” appears in English, on the other the word “Maya,” which means love in the artist’s native language of Nepali.
With recent acts of racism weighing heavy on our collective consciousness, Love and Maya makes the statement that our differences are important; exploring and engaging in dialogue about identity and these differences are essential to building a just and safe society. I hope that my vision for Love and Maya encourages conversation about differences and how to show love for all people.
Engineered by Black Cat Labs
Where your heart is happy
Where your heart is happy
IDEO Cambridge office, Cambridge, MA, USA
2022
12X10ft walls + ceiling
When IDEO approached me for a mural at their Cambridge office, I knew I wanted to create an immersive and calming space for everyone in the building. I wondered, What could a calm mind look like?
I grew up in Nepal playing with my cousins and looking for ladybugs among thigh-high mustard flower fields in my grandmother’s large backyard. My favorite place to be might be in front of large fields of mustard flowers.
In this immersive mural, I invite viewers to follow the gradient of one side of the wall to breathe in for four seconds and look up at the bright ceiling for four seconds and let the gradient on the opposite wall guide them as they let their breath out.
I want to encourage people to imagine their favorite place on earth and follow it with taking long even breaths in and out…in a rapidly changing world full of uncertainties, we must nurture a calm within us.
Family is Everything
Family is Everything
Mad House Motors, Boston
2022
J.Shia contacted me and she said my work reminded of the work of her grandfather who used to paint mosques in Syria. When she asked me to paint her cafe that will have elements of what home feels like for her, I was honored and ecstatic. She gave me full creative control over the project and after speaking with her and spending the day at her shop, I wrote “Family is everything”.
Still Smiling
Still Smiling
Cincy Nice, Cincinnati
2022
50ft X 80ft
This mural has “STILL SMILING” written in English over and over like a mantra. I worked on the design with founders of Cincy Nice who wanted a symbol of hope and resilience shown by the black community in the neighborhood.
