Art Born of Heritage

For artist Sushila Singh, Shifting to a new medium is never a departure. She continues to cherish pen-and-ink, employing sequences reminiscent of chronophotography to document chariot festivals such as Rato and Seto Machhindranath, visually preserving their intangible cultural heritage.

Sushila Singh’s journey into art began long before she recognized it as such. Growing up in a Newar family along the historic lanes of Patan Durbar Square – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – her earliest creative impulses emerged at home. ‘Now I realize it started from my home,’ she reflects. ‘Smearing walls and floors, arranging kitchen utensils to make them look beautiful.’ These small acts of aesthetic play were her first steps into a lifelong relationship with art.

HERITAGE SPARKS

Cultural rituals deepened this instinct. During Mha Puja, a Newar New Year ritual celebrating the self, Singh was captivated by the intricate mandalas laid out for the ceremony. ‘I did not understand the spiritual part then, but the mandala used to attract me,’ she recalls. Even after the rituals ended, she would create mandalas with dust, fascinated by their symmetry.

Her home filled with heirlooms and sacred objects stored in the family Sanduk – a wooden chest – felt like a private museum. ‘Those artefacts … are art pieces. I feel like it is an art museum.’ Art was everywhere in daily life, although it was rarely named as such.

Household tasks carried imagination, while school exercises in colouring and illustration were treated as routine. Like many, Singh was nudged towards academics, earning a Bachelor Commerce degree. Yet the path felt misaligned. ‘Even after securing degrees, the life of going to offices, doing calculations … did not attract me,’ she admits. Choosing art over accounting became less a career shift than reclamation of self and heritage.

FINDING HER LINE

Singh first enrolled in the Intermediate level of Fine Arts at Lalit Kshiksha Academy, later advancing her studies and eventually completing an MFA at the Central Department of Fine Arts, Tribhuvan University. ‘I truly realized that I can pursue the education in what I have passions for,’ she reflects. Yet, despite her formal training, she considers her upbringing and surroundings her true foundation.

‘I feel deeply indebted to my home, my culture, as well as the art and architecture of Durbar Square and Sundhara of Patan, where I was raised.’

She also trained privately under Baburaja Dyola, beginning with pencil landscapes before discovering her love for pen-and-ink. ‘I loved making line art with a pen. Mono colour. Black.’ Confident black lines soon became her hallmark, showcased in her solo exhibition Cosmic Shades (2017).

CALL OF CLAY

Immersion in art and nature reshaped her practice. During Cosmic Shades, Singh spontaneously handed out clay bricks stamped with her signature – a clue that clay had already chosen her. In 2018, she formalized this bond by training in ceramics with noted sculptor Gopal Kalapremi, merging her affinity for line work with the tactile language of the earth.

Her unfolding journey is reflected in exhibitions: Uddan – Beyond Bounds (2019),  k km a e d  …. : Unrevealed I (2023) Mana Pathi: Measures of Memories (Kathmandu Art Biennale, 2024), and Genesis of Self (India Art Fair, 2025). Each charts an artist evolving with her medium – shaping clay while being shaped by it. For Singh, clay is more than an expression; it is a form of healing. ‘I find it more therapeutic than artistic,’ she says.

LINE CONTINUES

Alongside monochromatic drawings and ceramics, her work often incorporates installations, extending her exploration of form and absence: ‘I feel like we are inspired by what we are exposed to, and we get engaged with what is absent in them – an attempt to fill the gap.’

For Singh, shifting to a new medium is never a departure. She continues to cherish pen-and-ink, employing sequences reminiscent of chronophotography to document chariot festivals such as Rato and Seto Machhindranath, visually preserving their intangible cultural heritage.

Recognition has followed. Singh received the Nepal Academy of Fine Arts’ Bishesh Purashkar twice (2018 for Handicraft; 2022 for Installation) and in 2024 was awarded one of the Rubin Foundation’s prestigious grants for her project Fusion of Cultural Intangibilities.

SINGH’S PALETTE

First flight ever: 1996. Kathmandu to Pokhara. Buddha Air. Siblings in tow. Heart racing, eyes wide – terrified and thrilled in equal measure.

Food fix: Dal, bhat, tarkari, and a zingy tomato chutney – her forever definition of home on a plate.

Festival bites: Sure, meat takes center stage, but Singh insists veggies and fruits are the real headliners- honouring the harvest and adding colour to the feast.

Bucket list: Every reachable base camp. Every serene lake. Nepal, one trail at a time

Art high: India Art Fair 2025 – her entire collection sold out in just a day and a half. Pure joy, with a side of disbelief.

PS this feature was published on Buddha Air’s inflight magazine, Yatra, issue 55, Oct – Dec 2025