The New York Times has been introducing us to some inspiring and dynamic young people since a couple of months in a series titled ‘The New York Times 30 Under 30’. The series features people under the age of 30 who have been experimenting in new forms of work, play, community and creation. And the person to be featured on the latest episode of the series was Arpana Rayamajhi.
Rayamajhi came to spotlight recently when supermodels Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid and Adriana Lima among others wore her jewelries in the Victoria’s Secret fashion show held in Paris.
Currently based in New York, the 29-year-old artist from Kathmandu graduated in Fine Arts from The Copper Union School of Art, focusing primarily on Painting and Sculpture. It was in the summer of 2014 when she founded her jewelry brand and named it ArpanaJewels. Nepal and its colors and cultures can easily be seen in her works as she is heavily inspired by the same. “I grew up in Nepal surrounded by patterns and color – a huge part of celebrations, festivities, and religious rituals there”, she told in an interview with Vogue last year. “Ethnic women in Nepal look so incredibly ornate, I can’t help but be influenced in every possible way. Each ethnic group in Nepal is distinctly different from one another and we all look original.”
The New York Times interviewed Rayamajhi on Wednesday and it was telecast live on its Facebook page. The recorded video has now been posted and the 28-minute-video takes us to her studio where she was working on a choker. When asked about how Nepal inspires her works, she said, “It’s where I learned to have relationships. It’s where I have my family. It’s where are made friends. I grew up there all my life. I moved to the US to go to a college here. I went to Cooper Union School of Art. It’s my history. I had never lived anywhere out of Kathmandu before I moved to New York and it inspires me in endless ways. I feel like everything that I know and everything that I felt like I had learned comes from Nepal.”
Watch the full interview here.
Connect with Arpana on Facebook and Instagram.
