KATHMANDU, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Siddhartha Art Gallery in Kathmandu of Nepal is attracting frequent visitors these days with artistic ceramic art works created by artist Gopal Kalapremi Shrestha and his family.

An exhibition titled "Where The Wild Things Are" showcases sculptures, utensils, vases, cups, paintings and many more, which appeal to viewers stranded by the epidemic and the ongoing lockdown.

Archana Rana KC, 42, spent more than an hour in the gallery with her two children. She was astonished to see diverse themes and artistic collections through the exhibition.

"I find this exhibition very thought-provoking, and each collection has different and meaningful themes," she told Xinhua, adding the exhibition could be a perfect place for people to rejuvenate from the COVID-19 chaos.

From the entrance, one can see ceramic tiles framed in wooden frames hanging on either side of the gallery. A collection of 11 tiles titled "The Flight of Crows" depicts crows being tangled with barbed wire and kite threads. Another collection of 14 tiles named "Life in Black And White" shows sad and mad human faces signifying uncertainty amid the pandemic. In this section, chaos in both the sky and land is displayed, explained Shrestha.

Human life is shown as well with ceramic collections placed artistically between the two walls displaying the ceramic tiles, noted the Nepali artist.

He said all the art pieces on display were created during the lockdown that started in late April.

To some, the most interesting part of the exhibition is that all the sculptures made by Shrestha are female characters.

Right in the middle of the gallery, there is a collection of 12 sculptures titled "Jenny," all women clad in bikini and are sitting playfully atop donkeys. Each donkey has a different zodiac sign printed on its body.

"The rider and the donkey appear as playful reflections on the politics of gender and identity," explained Shrestha.

Likewise, his other collection "Cows That Want to be Bulls" has meticulously made cows with a hump, symbolically indicating their foray and place-making in a once patriarchal world. Their humps are decorated with a tortoise-shell pattern to symbolize their resilience.

Through his "Rise, Rise from the Villages and Settlements" collection, Shrestha depicts nine anthropomorphic horses representing women from different professions like grass cutter, female solider, student, doctor, nurse, dancer and sportswoman, devoting great attention to the varying details and patterns of their attire.

Through his "Gaalis" series, Shrestha shares that women, like men, are also prone to be verbally assaulted with "Gaali" that usually likens a person to an animal. In response to these universal scolding terms, he created five works personifying women as Kukurni (Dog), Gadhaini (Donkey), Goruni (Bull), Bandarni (Monkey) and Bhedini (Sheep).

"Art is so subjective, everybody has their viewpoints on art and they can describe it in their ways," said KC. "In my view, the artist is trying to compliment women via his art works."

"During the COVID lockdown, we were disconnected from the world and we had no options but to stay at home," she added. "The works have shared the frustration people had during the lockdown. I could resonate with these art works."

Right below "The Flight of Crows," on the right corner there is a small collection of ceramic utensils by Shrestha's wife, Yamuna, a self-taught artist, which includes vases, cups and bowls painted with floral and animal pictures. She has decorated these utensils with the traditional Mithila art of Nepal.

Being displayed on the first floor of the gallery are works by their son, Shushank Kalapremi Shrestha.

A fine art graduate, Shushank was gifted with a pair of Chinese shoes by his grandfather around 15 years ago. He took an inspiration from the shoes and made 40 ceramic shoes in the exact shapes and sizes. A collection titled "Jutta" occupies most of the space on the first floor, with the ceramic shoes having cartoon faces like Batman, Joker and Mickey Mouse, and some cartoon characters have their mouths gaping open, displaying teeth or tongues, while some wear bandana masks and others have horns.

The younger Shrestha's other unique collection is "The Cups That Can See Me," under which the 12 cups have eyes all around and the cups are glazed with luster and running glazes. Noticeably, these types of glazing are done for the first time in Nepal.

His father had tried on this glaze for more than 20 years but failed as it needs preciseness. "I was trying to make this for the past two decades but could not succeed, I'm so happy that my son did it," the father said.

The 14th exhibition of Gopal Kalapremi Shrestha, a ceramic artist of 30 years, runs till Sept. 3, and visitors are limited to 10 on each floor and mask wearing is mandatory to check the spread of the coronavirus. Enditem