Mcube Interdisciplinary Students’ Residency 2018 is a creative platform for national and international students and fresh graduates in the field of Visual Arts, Architecture, Music, Performance Arts, Theatre, Film Making, Literature etc. Main objective of this program is to work closely with professional artists/ curators in Nepal to learn,
exchange, create and collaborate. This initiative is to enrich art educational experiences among the students of different Art Universities around the world to come and work together in Nepal.
This exhibition entitled Chautari | under the shade is realized after one month of
intensive residency workshop at Mcube. Chautari is the platform under the shade of the tree for people to take rest and use for social gathering. It is the place where people interact, trekkers stop by and share their stories. However, this residency
program happens to be interactive and collaborative likewise the space of Chautari. During this period eight participating art students and fresh graduates from three
Universities of USA and Nepal are working together to create and cooperate. It has
connected meaningful opportunity for them to exchange their creative ability. The young artists manifest their realization through the exchange and experimentation. They have connected their reality and experience of serenity and stillness through their conceptual ideology. Most of the art works are depicting the innermost thought process, exercising collaboration and meaningful juxtaposition of transformation through the shade.
Manish Lal Shrestha
Curator
Gallery Mcube
Participating Artists
Michelle Norton | Graduated in 2016 | Film & Creative Writing
Maryland Institute College of Art
Hanna Allen | 4th year | Sculpture
Savannah College of Art & Design (Atlanta)
Dania Gonzalez | 3rd year | Painting
Savannah College of Art & Design (Atlanta)
Brandon Welchko | 2nd year | Architecture
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Jessica Miller | 4th year | Ceramics
Northern Michigan University
Yajyu Manandhar | Graduated in 2016 | Studio Art
Kathmandu University Center of Arts and Design
Nabina Sunuwar | 1st Semester MFA | Print Making
Center Department of Arts, Tribhuvan University
Pawan Sunuwar | 4th Year | Painting
Sirjana College of Fine Arts
Michelle Norton | Capacity/Incapacity | Acrylic on Paper | 2018
Capacity is the maximum amount that something can contain. Moreover, incapacity is the quality or state of being incapable– especially by the lack of physical ability, intellectual power, natural events, or legal qualifications. These paintings of cups represent the vessel-like nature of humans. We are limited and the jarring expressiveness of the paintings represents that frustrating revelation. Making this work was a cathartic exercise in coming to terms with reaching my own limits.
Hanna Allen | Series | Acrylic on Canvas | 2018
A series of paintings centered around my fellow artists and the friendships we have built during our time at Gallery MCube. I’m taking their memories and mine to juxtapose them visually and symbolically. I wanted to reflect on who I am and who they are and how these friendships have formed and the lasting impact they have made on me as a person and as an artist.
Dania Gonzalez | Waste to Beauty | Acrylic & Found Object | 2018
As an artist, I like to utilize the things around me in my work. In Nepal, I’ve seen the beauty of the country and her people, and enjoy the colors of the land. The growth of the population in the Kathmandu valley has also increased the amount of waste discarded throughout the streets. I find beauty in honoring discarded items that would otherwise be seen as useless. I like turning everyday objects into something unique in a way of bringing new life to things that would otherwise be discarded. The painted scenes depict the beauty of life, food, and the vibrancy of Nepal.
Yajyu Manandhar | In Singularity | Digital Photo | 2018
…point of time when everybody is thinking the same, doing the same action, and are at the same point…
Brandon Welchko | Nepal | Assemblage | 2018
A card tower is normally built in a complete pyramid formation and can be used to resemble a power structure. This piece is meant to illustrate the conditions of Nepal–its people, government, and relational dynamics. After observations and conversations with Nepali friends, I’ve learned that the government is detached from its people, perhaps even unseen. I’ve placed the face cards at the bottom of the structure to symbolize Nepal’s power being underground and hidden. Even so, the Nepali people continue to live their lives despite the absence of an involved government. People can be seen working hard and standing strong even through such disasters as the 2008 earthquake.
Jessie Miller | The Space Between Us | Digital Photo, Colored Pencil, Animation | 2018
These works focus on the physical space every person places around themselves. The study of relational space also known as, proxemics, analyzes the effects that population density has on behaviour, communication, and social interaction. In Nepal, I have observed the dynamics of Nepali and American relational interactions. Americans tend to have a much greater expectation for their own personal space than Nepalis do. I used bubbles to symbolize the invisible boundaries between us and reflect on the two cultures.
Nabina Sunuwar | “Sambandha” “Connection” | Installation & Performance | 2018
Chautari is a rest stop where different types of people from different places come and relationships are formed. MCube is also a chautari because students from different universities come together and get the chance to explain ourselves through art together and form a deep connection. We stay connected like tree roots are connected to the tree. We see chautari is usually made to create a platform for sitting and resting. It’s not just a stone, it’s the medium and connection. And the blue color denotes the cool shades we get from sitting under the shade whereas green represents the native. The few stones are left unturned which provides the natural effect.
Pawan Sunuwar | Falsehood | Wood & Strings | 2018
New development projects for Nepal’s better future are full of contradiction. As Nepali citizens, we have equal rights to practice and duties to follow. Vigilante is us and the self-realization of equal responsibilities is a must for a development country like ours but we lack commitment to be vigilant about what is going on in inside business. We want the future but we negotiate to be futuristic. We don’t realize that we are caged within the mandatory simple law practice. The better present and prosperous future is so far to be practical and the activity of the people in power are serving their own benefits which is simple as basic form “cube” to understand. Inside that basic understanding the dirty business linked to one another are enticing as colorful threads within the simple forms of decoy.
Nabina Sunuwar & Hanna Allen | Chautari | Paper | 2018
Just like the roots of the chautari tree that allow the tree to grow tall and strong, are the people in a community who are required to further the community. We took a fragile material like toilet paper to illustrate that although in a single strand it’s incredibly weak, when twisted together, it can be incredibly strong and beautiful. A cord of three strands is not easily broken, and that applies to toilet paper also. People working together is always much stronger than a person working alone.
Jessie Miller & Michelle Norton | Bubble | Digital Photos & Installation | 2018
This work is a collaboration about intimacy, physical space, proximity, and the relationships between us. The vibrancy and liveliness of Nepali streets contrast with Western values of wide personal and physical space. We wanted to capture candid snapshots of people living their daily lives in their surrounding neighborhoods and spaces. We collected sounds from around Nepal in order to arrange an all-encompassing soundscape.
