Shiva Ahmadi (b. 1975, Tehran, Iran)
Shiva Ahmadi references the miniature painting and iconography of various religious traditions and contemporary cultural events to reflect on universal human conditions. Her video Ascend (2017) poetically reflects on the global refugee crisis, while Lotus (2014) features imagery from a watercolor by the artist and two Buddha sculptures from the Asia Society Museum, New York.
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (1950–2020, b. Manchester, England)
Artist, musician, and cultural provocateur Genesis Breyer P-Orridge traveled to and worked in Nepal for nearly 30 years, and h/er engagement with philosophical and spiritual aspects of Himalayan cultures spans even longer. Touching of Hands (2016) is a life-size bronze casting of the artist’s arm. Its title refers to the artist and mystic Brion Gysin’s remark to Breyer P-Orridge that “wisdom can only be passed by the touching of hands.”
Tsherin Sherpa (b. 1968, Kathmandu, Nepal)
Following the devastating earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25, 2015, Tsherin Sherpa returned to his home city of Kathmandu and created Wish-fulfilling Tree (2016). He worked with local craftsmen to create a seven-layer bronze mandala. Both a memorial to the destruction wrought by the earthquake and a wish for the future, the mandala is surrounded by rubble, debris, and found objects. In tandem, he continued his longstanding painting practice, represented by two works from the series UFO (Unidentified Fettering Organization) (2016).
