Sneak peek into the process and art of artist Youdhisthir Maharjan

STIR visits Kathmandu studio of the artist for an exclusive and first-time ever demo-interview.

by Rahul KumarPublished on : Oct 19, 2019

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.

The Prayer of Quiet, hand-cut text collage on deacidified reclaimed book-page Image Credit: Courtesy of Gallery Blueprint12
The Thread of Truth, hand-cut deacidified pages of reclaimed book Image Credit: Courtesy of Gallery Blueprint12

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.

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About Author

Rahul Kumar

Contributor

Rahul is the former Editor (Arts), STIR. He has been a Consulting Editor with Arts Illustrated and has written for various publications like Mint-Lounge and Vogue. Before retiring from mainstream corporate roles, he led an art venture for NDTV and was also involved in its television programming. He is a Fulbright scholar, a Charles Wallace fellow, and a practising artist.

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