Beyond the canvas: Sagar Manandhar on process and perception

For artist Sagar Manandhar, a painting does not begin when colour touches the canvas. It starts much earlier—with the rhythm of a space, the sound of a scraping tool, the silence of a studio and an ongoing dialogue between the artist and his materials. His latest exhibition, Dialogue and Perception, which began on July 16 at The Kala Salon, Thamel, shifts the focus from the finished artwork to the creative process itself, inviting viewers to experience abstraction as a language rather than a puzzle.

In this conversation, Manandhar speaks about why sound is as important as colour, how experimentation reshaped his practice, living under the legacy of celebrated artist Kiran Manandhar, and why art should first move people before trying to change the world.