By Renuka Dhakal
Kathmandu, July 29: An artist and a successful woman entrepreneur Shivangini Rana has come up with her first solo art exhibition. Entitled “Bold and Beautiful”, her abstract art works painted in acrylic colour are now put in display at Siddhartha Art Gallery, Babar Mahal, Revisited.
Rana adores black colour and says that it is a base of life citing that every colour of life begins from black colour. This is why she prefers to use black and fine strokes of the brush drawing multi-colour layers in her works.
The exhibition of Rana’s artworks was jointly inaugurated by Ambassador of Qatar to Nepal Yusuf Bin Mohammed Ahmed Al-Hail and actress Manisha Koirala on July 9.
Artist Rana, who is also the actress of the Nepali film “Madhumas”, has made paintings in a series titled including ‘Winter Rose’, ‘Garden of Eve’, ‘Hope’, ‘Pink Sky’, ‘Breaking Silence’, ‘Butterfly Abstract’, ‘Fire and Ice’, ‘Bold and Beautiful’, ‘Dance of the Word’ and ‘Galaxy’.
She also participated in the fifth season of MTV Splitsvilla, a popular Indian reality show in 2012, and has also worked as a model. A total of 55 artworks of Rana have been exhibited at the gallery and over 70 per cent of her paintings have already been sold.
She said that the collection of the canvases displayed in the gallery was painted in two years.
“Even though I'm not a professional artist, I work in a style that is different from the current art trend, which is preferred by art connoisseurs,” she said.
On the work front, she wears many hats. Artist Rana is active in hotel business, event management, art studio, and social service. She has also raised social issues through her paintings.
She strokes her brushes to quench her thirst of curiosity regarding why women wear jewelleries to cover their bodies at wedding ceremonies and parties.
Sharing her experiences, Rana said, “I am often captivated with the women who wear heavy jewellery at parties. It was to curb this curiosity that has been growing since childhood that I stroke the painting brushes on series of jewellery art as well.”
Daughter of Princess Partima Rana from the royal family of Tripura in India and Mayor of Nepalgunj Dhawal Shumsher d Rana, artist Rana infatuated to creative art from her childhood and said her family supported her in every step of her inquisitiveness.
Artist Rana established the Batika Art Gallery in her hometown Nepalgunj to promote and develop the art culture outside the Valley. The gallery is the first in the western region of the country where she jointly exhibited her arts with Vimal Pradhan.
Although she is new in the field of exhibitions, she has been active in painting for seven years. About 300 of her artworks have already been sold in Nepal, the USA, the UK, Australia, India and other countries.
She is also planning to exhibit her artworks in India in coming November if the threat of COVID-19 pandemic gets lessened.
Her works clearly reflect the power of nature. The canvases by Rana which hung at the art gallery portrayed the natural elements like trees, flowers, birds, butterflies and feathers. Moreover, the mix of various colours clearly represented her interest on abstract art and her strong emotion toward nature.
The exhibition will continue July 30.