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Artist

Tsherin Sherpa

Born in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu in 1968, Tsherin Sherpa currently works and resides between California, USA, and Nepal. From the age of 12, he studied traditional Tibetan thangka painting with his father Master Urgen Dorje.
The traveling
thangka artist
Tsherin Sherpa immigrated to California, where he taught traditional thangka painting at various Buddhist Centers until he began to explore his own style. During this time he reimagined tantric motifs, symbols, colors and gestures placed in resolutely contemporary compositions.

He also borrows imagery from classical Tibetan Buddhist iconography to abstract, fragment and reconstruct the traditional image to investigate and explore his personal diasporic experiences and the dichotomy found where sacred and secular culture collide. By employing mass culture’s ubiquitous noise, Tsherin Sherpa imports these representations into a heightened dialogue where Buddhist icons and global affairs can be renegotiated into a mirror-like transmutation.

Through the lens of the Himalayan diaspora, my work simultaneously deals with the preservation and transformation of a scattered culture, by bridging the sacred and secular, the past history and contemporary.

View Collection
Tsherin Sherpa COLLECTIONS

    • 2019 : De Saisset Museum, Santa Clara, California, USA


    • 2019 : Rubin Museum of Art, New York, USA


    • 2018 : Uli Sigg Collection


    • 2018 : National Museums of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK


    • 2017 : Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, USA


    • 2017 : Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, USA


    • 2016 : Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK


    • 2015 : Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia


    • 2014 : Samdani Art Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh


    • 2010 : Rubin Museum of Art, New York, USA


    • 2008 : Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, USA

    • 1991-96

      Buddhist Philosophy under the tutelage of various Buddhist masters, Nepal


    • 1988–89

      Computer Science and Mandarin, Taipei, Taiwan


    • 1983–88

      Traditional Tibetan thangka painting apprenticeship with his father, Master Urgen Dorje

    • 2020

      Metamorphosis: Recent Paintings and Sculptures by Tsherin Sherpa, Herron School of Art & Design, Indianapolis, USA


    • 2018

      I want..I have..I hope, Rossi & Rossi, London, UK


    • 2016

      Beautiful Decay, Rossi & Rossi, Hong Kong


    • 2013

      Golden Child/Black Clouds, Rossi & Rossi, Art Basel Hong Kong, Hong Kong


    • 2012

      Tibetan Spirit, Rossi & Rossi, London, UK

BioTsherin Sherpa
Tsherin Sherpa Painting