Buddhas
Seema Sharma Shah, 2017
Etching
101.5 × 152 cm

© Seema Sharma Shah

One of my most famous works is the etching of Buddha, for which I used the viscosity technique. This work is a depiction of the early Buddha across South Asia following the spread of Buddhism within the region. The work depicts three statues of Buddha. The centre comprises a re-creation of a cave painting of Buddha in Ajanta, the Arungabad region of India, which dates back to the second century BCE. Seen to the left is the Bamiyan Buddha from Afghanistan, which dates from the sixth century CE, and which was destroyed by Taliban insurgents in 2001. Deepankar Buddha is seen to the right, a more recent figure found close to my home in Kathmandu, Nepal. The work also features several depictions of Buddha’s mother, as based on statues in Lumbini, and other Buddha depictions based in Sharnath Varanasi, my birthplace. The portrayals of Buddha are surrounded by prayer wheels, which are a physical manifestation of a technique of prayer involving a full rotation of the wheels for the prayer to be complete. The print comes together and functions as a form of preservation and reverence for the several hundred yearold Buddhist culture in our part of the world. Since I live close to Swyambhunath Stupa in Kathmandu, my work is primarily influenced by the statues of Buddha in Nepal. However, I cannot forget the inspiration the statues of Buddhas in Varanasi have given me. My work thus represents the variety of Buddha statues I have seen in my lifetime.