Bio

  Palija Shrestha is from Kathmandu, and currently resides in San Francisco, USA. She completed her Masters in Fine Arts Degree from California College of the Arts, 2019 and studied Bachelor of Arts, Studio Art from Hollins University, in 2014. Shrestha is a finalist of the Barclay Simpson Award, was nominated for the Headlands Residency Award, the Vermont Studio Center Fellow and has received the Betsy Richardson Boney Scholarship, Claudia W. Belk Scholar Award, Figg Belk Scholarship Award, etc.

  Shrestha's primary exploration concerns  consequences that are comparative to  positioning her body in relation to its surrounding. Through her practice, she explores the significant emotional and psychological impact of being raised in a somewhat socially liberal family with the implications in living in a persistent Hindu Patriarchy and then discovering temporary freedom while studying in the US. Shrestha's practice evolves as a form of dreamscape, constituting abstraction found in the intersectionality of her political position and, incorporates language, figures, masks, and realistic identifiable objects in her paintings to induce liminality. She investigates, navigates and reorganizes politics in response to her, her mother's and her grandmothers' experiences. 

   Shrestha also uses her practice as a tool to pursue Atman and Brahman.

   Shrestha primarily practices painting, and is influenced by abstract expressionism, color field painting, and Paubha painting.