The essence of nostalgia in the artist Umesh Shah

Sunil Raj Dhakal
Sunil Raj Dhakal March 24, 2023
6 Min Read
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Mithila art has a long history of development. It used to be transformed from one generation to another from a very long time. It is believed that the tradition of Mithila art began with the time of Janak, the king of Janakpurdham and the father of Sita. This kind of art used to be done during the time of festivals, weddings and feasts by using flour, clay and cow dung. In most of the cases these kinds of drawings used to be made by females of the family. With time, the decorative purpose of these kinds of art not only limited in the walls or the front-yard of the houses, but also has come a long way to the canvasses.
The present day artists are experimenting with new ideas and their experiences assimilating them with their daily lifestyle. Among the name of Mithila artists, the name of Umesh Shah is not new as he is also an art teacher at the central department of Tribhuvan University. His works depicts the lifestyle, the narratives of his region. This time he is exhibiting his art-works at the gallery of Bikalpa art centre, kupandole from 15th March to 29th of March.
Mr. Shah grew up in Sarlahi district of Nepal.  In his art work one can see the strong affinities with the art produced in that area. While talking about the artistic journey, he begins with a saying, ” I had grown up by seeing the art work of my grandmother during my early days. While growing up, my relationship with the art also began growing. My canvasses speak the core life and experience of my hometown.”
The art works he produces are adored by many of the visitors due to his color combinations as the artist say. ” while creating my art, I generally play with the background with the colors in the canvas and let it dry. After the canvas gets dried, I work on the images to be kept in the canvas from my diary and begin creating my art work. “
An image of a female figure is dominant in most of his paintings. At some, she is in a pensive mood while in others,, she seems like talking with the animals and dogs. The melancholy and sad face of the central figure leaves the audience with a question, “why is this figure so sad?” When asked the same question to the artist himself, he replies, “after marriage, most of the males of the family goes to foreign countries for employment, leaving his wife alone at home. For the whole day, they think of the time of return of their beloved. Thus in most of my paintings, the central figure is sad. In order to kill the boredom, she sometimes talks with the birds, yet sometimes fans the bird itself with a hand-fan with the feeling of human sentiments.”
In one of his paintings, he has shown the life of people back in their hometown and in the cities. A couple,  when they are in village, they mostly put on the dress that they normally wear. The same couple, when they reach the city, their lifestyle and dressing sense changes entirely and they hold wine cups in their hand.
One of his paintings shows the story of deprivation of a female in the home. At home, the male child are let to play with a wooden horse and yet the female child are not given to play with it. With age, when she grows up, the female figure is still looking at the horse with the longing she had back in her early years.
“Most of his paintings are done by using oil or acrylic on a large sized canvasses. At first the technique of wash of the darkest tone is used and then lighter highlights on his subject’s facial features and prominent anatomical structures are made and one can note the peculiar embodiment of beauty is seen in his paintings,” said Saroj Mahato, the director and curator of Bikalpa Art Centre.
In the same line, he has also used the skills of still-life while making pots, animals, chairs in a more decorative yet prominent way. The anatomy of the figures seems more skilled and at times the eyes, lips are highlighted in a strange way.
At the moment, at the central department, he is teaching print- making to his students. Thus he has also kept some of his prints for the exhibition in which the central theme are the same according to the artist.

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