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Bidhata
Currently she paints leaves. And only leaves. If she
had been past her prime one would have to worry that
here’s one more talented artist who’s going to be
known as a painter of a singular subject – in her
case - leaves. Much like many other artists in this
country who seem to have found their comfort zones
in their particular choice of a single subject. One
can take umpteen examples.
And although Bidhata KC herself has no reservations
about cultivating her pet obsession, and in fact, as
an artistic individual, can come up with ample
justification for her decision, one cannot disregard
the fact that the issue could, in more unfortunate
cases, lead to a sort of creativity barricade. Tell
the vivacious artist this and she will no doubt
pounce upon the reasoning that painting a single
subject actually can be more of a creative chore
than otherwise. She’s right. And she is wrong. It’s
a funny thing, but in many things artistic, there
can easily be not only two but many sides of the
same coin.
But, as mentioned before, one must take heart from
the truth that Bidhata KC is young, only twenty nine
years old. It could even be said that she has only
now started her professional journey in real
earnest. This is not to say that she is a novice –
far from it. Earlier this year, she was part of a
fourteen member group who embarked on an artistic
adventure called ‘Inspiration Manaslu 2007’, a two
week trek to capture, artistically, impressions of
some of the remote mountain regions of Nepal. Among
her other recent excursions into the larger art
world has been a two week stay in Korea attending an
international workshop where she exhibited her works
at the ‘Mountain’ group exhibition in Insa Gallery,
Insadong, Korea. In the same year, 2006, Bidhata
also displayed her canvases during the exhibition,
‘Impressions of Manang’ at the Nepal Tourism Board
in Kathmandu and at the Singh Art Gallery in Patan
as well as at the Century Hotel in Chitwan. Bidhata
also traveled to Dhaka to participate in the ‘Nepal
Bangladesh Youth Art Exhibition’ at the National
Museum there. Other group exhibitions she has taken
part in, in 2006, have been, ‘In Memories of Isben’
at the BICC and ‘10 Days Atelier’ at the Nepal Art
Council, both in Kathmandu.
Bidhata
received her Diploma in Fine Arts from Lalit Kala
Campus in the year 2001. Even in her school days,
the artist seems to have had no doubts about where
she would be heading, and after passing her SLC from
Mahendra Adarsha School, she immediately joined
Lalit Kala Campus to further hone skills already in
good evidence. Today, she herself teaches the
subject of art at the Lumbini International College
in Lalitpur. Certainly, as one at home with art, she
is no neophyte. And if anyone has doubts on this,
then a cursory glance through the score and ten
finished canvases she currently has in her studio in
Kupondole, should be enough to cast aside any such
misgivings. Bidhata says, “I have started working in
this studio only recently. I have realized that I
now need to work away from home. This allows me to
take my vocation more seriously and adds gravity to
my efforts.” Until now, she had been working out of
her home in Satdobato, Lalitpur, where she lives
with her father, Krishna Prasad KC and an elder
sister. Bidhata is one of four sisters, the other
three being, Samita Bhandari, Pabitra Chettri and
Prakriti Panta who, as it happens, are all teachers,
and all, happily married. The elder sister runs
Child Nature School in which Bidhata taught art for
a year in 2003.
One
might ask as to why Bidhata herself is still single,
specially taking into account her attractive
demeanour and her cheerful joi-de-vivre. Perhaps the
fact that she was born on the 29th of May might have
something to do with this. It is said that Gemini
women find it difficult to find mates who can live
up to their lofty ideals. Bidhata laughs. And she
remarks, “Maybe I haven’t found the right person
yet?”
However, coming back to the subject of art, now the
artist seems more than ever determined to take a
firmer grip of her profession and stop at nothing to
make rapid inroads into much higher plateaus than
heretofore attempted. Her greatest desire today is
to hold her first solo exhibition. As it is, Bidhata
has had more than her share of group exhibitions.
Besides the above mentioned exhibitions in 2006, in
2005 too, she had participated in about six such
shows and it can be assumed that she will be more
than happy to participate in many more in the future
as well. But, and it is only to be expected, the
time is nigh for the artist to display to the world
her achievements in a more emphatic and singular
manner. Therefore, a solo exhibition, without doubt,
is the need of the hour. When queried on why she
hasn’t held one before, Bidhata is candid in her
reply, “I was not ready. I don’t think I had the
requisite confidence in myself.” And now? “I am
ready,” she replies with a brilliant smile. The
substantial collection of finished works building up
steadily in her Kupondole studio and the quality
evident therein, vindicates her statement. Ay,
Bidhata’s ready.
Bidhata
paints with her left hand. So what? One might say,
but in her case, she has no choice. The artist has
been inflicted from birth with a defect in her right
hand and to put it mildly, this hand cannot do much.
This does not seem to have been a deterrence for
Bidhata and she says with a brave smile, “I have
adjusted to my disability.” One as to therefore,
admire her commitment to her profession, and one has
to surmise that such dedication could only have
arisen from a deep conviction in her own talent. It
is a given that unless an artist has faith in
herself/himself, he/she cannot get far. And can one
dispute the fact that the art scene today, as is the
case with other spheres, become quite fiercely
competitive? It is also a given that it might not be
very difficult nowadays to have one’s place in the
sun for a short while (what with rapid profusion of
mass media), but the important thing is – can this
luminescence be sustained for a longer period of
time? And here, it is easy enough to say that this
would depend on the artist’s talent, dedication and
perseverance. But such a simple answer, while right
on all counts, can be still be quite misleading.
For artists to grow and flourish, as is the case for
other professionals, the environment needs to be
conducive. In addition, for a fragile field such as
art, and for a fragile breed such as artists, the
environment needs to be also specially supportive.
It does not need an expert to observe and analyze
the present situation in the country. However, give
the artists-at-work due credit. In spite of the
state of affairs (bad, bad, bad) it is heartening to
see that our artists do not seem to have been
disheartened and hardly a week goes by without an
exhibition being held at one gallery or another.
Yes, our artists-at-work seem to have become quite
productive today. Now, one more artist is primed to
jump into the fray and her name is Bidhata KC.
Welcome to the fold of artists-at-work.
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