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Sneha Shrestha often creates large-scale murals which, if you live in Massachusetts, you might have seen in Allston, Cambridge, and Dorchester under her moniker “Imagine.” Here, Shrestha painted at a smaller scale, because during the COVID-19 pandemic she, like many, was confined indoors. Missing her homeland, Nepal, this work’s title refers to the area code of her now-defunct landline number and acts as a stand-in for the many times she dialed home to keep in touch with relatives throughout the pandemic. The repeated calligraphic motif is the first letter of the Nepalese alphabet, a direct tie to her native tongue, childhood memories of a place inaccessible at the time, and a way to practice mindfulness during a stressful period.
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Sneha Shrestha (Nepali, born in 1987)
Nepali
2020
Medium/Technique
Acrylic ink on canvas
Dimensions
Height x width: 101.6 × 76.2 cm (40 × 30 in.)
Credit Line
Doran Family Fund for Contemporary Artists created in memory of Stephen D. Paine and funds donated by the Asian Art Society of New England
Accession Number2023.63
ClassificationsPaintings
Sneha Shrestha often creates large-scale murals which, if you live in Massachusetts, you might have seen in Allston, Cambridge, and Dorchester under her moniker “Imagine.” Here, Shrestha painted at a smaller scale, because during the COVID-19 pandemic she, like many, was confined indoors. Missing her homeland, Nepal, this work’s title refers to the area code of her now-defunct landline number and acts as a stand-in for the many times she dialed home to keep in touch with relatives throughout the pandemic. The repeated calligraphic motif is the first letter of the Nepalese alphabet, a direct tie to her native tongue, childhood memories of a place inaccessible at the time, and a way to practice mindfulness during a stressful period.
Provenance2023, sold by bkprojects, Brookline, MA to the MFA. (Accession Date: February 15, 2023)