Sneak peek into the process and art of artist Youdhisthir Maharjan

Visiting the studio of Youdhisthir Maharjan was on top of the list for me when I planned a short trip to Nepal earlier this month, as I tagged along with my wife who was going there on business. I was first introduced to the delicate works of Maharjan about four years back at the India Art Fair booth of Gallery Blueprint12, which represents him.

I was immediately awestruck by his creations. They seemed fragile. They were old and new at the same time, since his process uses pages from discarded books, yet giving them a new meaning. And once all that settled-in for me, I was hit by just imagining how Maharjan would cut those pages! One alphabet at a time. It was evident that he had steady hands of a surgeon and patience of a fisherman. “I am keen to make alien something that is very familiar. I force my viewer to find new meaning in the text, which I make illegible but offer a fresh possibility through my work,” says Maharjan.

Here, we present a never-before demo-interview with Maharjan at his home-studio in Nepal, overlooking the Kathmandu valley with the Himalayas as a backdrop.