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Tsherin Sherpa describes his art as a bridge between the past and the present, the traditional and the contemporary. His voice is that of a generation that’s, at once, navigating its history and carving its identity in a fast-changing world. And through his upcoming exhibition, titled Lineages – which is also his first ever solo exhibition in India – the Tibetan contemporary artist hopes to offer an overview of his practice rather than the singular works that have previously entered private collections in the country.When East met WestBorn in Kathmandu in 1968, Sherpa was raised in a family of traditional Thangka painters. His father, Master Urgen Dorje, was instrumental in honing his craft, beyond which Sherpa went on to teach it in Buddhist centres. “Later in life, when I moved to Taiwan, and subsequently to the US, I began adopting contemporary motifs into my art form as popular Western culture and media became a part of my daily life. I envision my work as a way for me to honour the legacy of the Himalayan people and their culture, by translating it into a contemporary visual language. I believe this allows broader audiences to rediscover the ideas rooted within traditional Himalayan art forms,” he shares. The osmotic process was a gradual and profound one. Confronted with the stark contrasts of Western life, Sherpa began reflecting on how the human psyche adapts when it moves between worlds — how identity is reshaped in translation. From that inquiry emerged his Spirit series, where Himalayan myths meet modern imagery.“As a child, my grandmother often told me of spirits who inhabited the lands, rivers and skies. Like many children in Himalayan households, they became emblems of the culture to me. As an adult living away from home, I wondered if the spirits travelled with me too, and what they might make of the changing world around me. Thus, the Spirit characters took shape in my paintings, representative of the myriad Himalayan diaspora who carry their histories with them but are moulded in a contemporary society with its own values and judgments. The series reimagines how people synthesise history and present-day change to navigate their own identities,” he says. The paintings from this series will hold a significant place in the upcoming exhibition as well.Bridging worldsThe Lineages revisits both classical Tibetan Buddhist iconography and tantric motifs, while interspacing them with global pop culture references and contemporary visual languages. Sherpa’s art juxtaposes the sacred and the secular, exploring contrasts that question identity, spirituality and cultural inheritance. For Sherpa, however, the vision is a simple but evocative one – of paying homage to the history and experiences of the Himalayan diaspora within the context of South Asian and Himalayan art. “As a region, we carry not only the rich legacy of our ancient cultures and art forms but also share a rising voice in the global contemporary art scene. As such, my work shares an artistic language of home, belonging and identity with peers across South Asia. The idea behind the curation is to see the work as a part of a collective whole as opposed to an individual effort. I hope audiences reflect on the shared community and legacy of contemporary artistic voices in the region through the works,” he adds.Sherpa is especially excited to showcase his work in India, he says. “The visual language of traditional art forms as well as contemporary social motifs are shared and understood across south Asia,” he says.Lineages will be on view at ICIA Gallery, Kala Ghoda until Nov 14
