Portraits have a way of looking back at you, and in Whispers of Inner Self, they do so quietly and honestly without asking for permission. In his recent solo exhibition, Suchin Shrestha brings together fragments of emotion, desire and inner reflection gathered over years of making.
From the beginning Suchin Shrestha has been his own compass. During his residency, the canvas became his mirror, a space to pour every flicker of feeling, every shadow of desire, every restless thought. He moved through the full spectrum of being: joy, longing,frustration , tenderness, curiosity, solitude, all lived and felt through him, then traced onto the surface. Each painting reflects the self, quietly reckoning with what it means to be human, and gently inviting us to see the fragments of experience we carry but rarely name. For Shrestha colour is never accidental, it carries feeling, memory and story. Some works shine with rays of hope, while others linger in the gentle warmth of togetherness.
During our conversation, he spoke about how the exhibition traces different phases of his life. The bachelor years, when companionship was still an abstract idea, appear in works shaped by inward observation, moments held in solitude, and longing. He described how after marriage the work began to shift. The figures open into a quieter sense of shared existence, reflecting mutual understanding and the unspoken routines that grow between two lives. Shrestha explains that this evolution reflects a gradual shift from introspection toward companionship , from solitary to the reassurance of shared presence.
He also spoke about how this inward focus begins quite literally in front of a mirror. Standing there, he watches his expressions change, moods rise and fall, thoughts pass across his face. Each nuance, each change became a subject in itself, a spark for what would later appear on canvas. I found it striking that he chose to observe himself, turning in a way we rarely do in the rush of modern life. There is something almost meditative in this self observation, a slowing down, a patience, a willingness to witness fleeting emotions, contradictions, and small, private moments. Through this inward gaze , he does more than capture a likeness or a mood, he captures a living, a shifting interior world, a portrait of the self in constant dialogue with itself. It is in these quiet, introspective moments that his paintings find their resonance, gently reminding us how seldom we truly pause to watch ourselves.
In a noisy world, the exhibition offers a quiet presence, soft, vulnerable, still, yet brimming with life. Solo shows like these are vital for the Nepali contemporary art sphere, offering artists the space to explore personal narratives and the depths of their inner life. They allow viewers to engage with work that is introspective, layered and deeply human. Whispers of the Inner Self exemplifies how such exhibitions create a dialogue between artist and audience, between the personal and the universal , showing that contemporary art can be as much about reflection and emotional depth as it is about form or spectacle. Visitors can experience the exhibition at Artudio, Patan, until Jan 10, and immerse themselves in the reflective world of Shrestha’s art.
