Chering
Gyalpo
Gurung
I paint the people of Dolpo, a remote region high in the Himalaya of Nepal. Their faces, their textiles, their daily life, on canvas and on birch bark.
Selected Work
A surface that remembers
In Dolpo, birch bark was part of daily life. People used it as plates, as roofing, for wrapping things, and for writing sacred texts.
I started painting on birch bark with that history in mind. Its texture and warm colour give the work a feeling of age and quiet. Each piece holds a small memory of where I come from.
Dolpo is one of the most remote regions of the Himalaya. It has its own language, its own rituals, food, jewellery and dress.
Now that is changing. People are leaving. The handwoven wool that families once made at home is being replaced by cheap imported cloth. Slowly, the old way of life is fading.
In these paintings I try to hold both sides at once, the old and the new, in one picture. I want to keep the memory of Dolpo alive, even as it changes.
Some works place people beside the animals they live with, the snow leopard, the demoiselle crane and the wild yak. Like us, they move, they endure, and they survive in a hard land.
Born in Dolpo
I was born in Dolpo, high in the Himalaya of Nepal, in 2000. I paint to hold on to the beauty of its people and their traditions.
Dolpo has a strong culture, close to nature, built on weaving, jewellery and storytelling. But it is changing fast. Many young people leave, and a lot of old knowledge leaves with them. My paintings come from that tension, between keeping things and losing them. I am drawn to the textiles of Dolpo and to the coral, turquoise and lapis worn in our jewellery. They carry memory and meaning, not just decoration.
I work on canvas and on birch bark paper, called Bhoj Patra, the same material once used in Dolpo for roofs, for wrapping sacred things, and for writing. Painting on it keeps my work close to the place I come from.
Exhibitions
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