Every face has a story to tell.

While I was living in Nepal working on another collection, I randomly stumbled upon the surreal Shiva Festival in the heart of Kathmandu and was encompassed in a world of hundreds of Babas, those ascetic vagabonds who come from all over India and Nepal to worship Lord Shiva, dressed in their bright multi-colored fabrics.

For their annual three-day festival, the Babas reunite together in an area of small temples perched on a hilltop overlooking the city and the river used for cremation ceremonies. They are surrounded by monkeys, trees and camp fires while they meditate, reciting mantras while clouds of smoke fume out of their mouths, obliterating their consciousness. Fiery visions seem to take flight from their eyes.

This collection aims to represent the vivid impressions of contrasts I perceived at the Shiva Festival. The poverty of an ascetic religious life clashes with the grace and elegance of their glorious colorful tunics. Their quest for the ego’s annulment contrasts with their proud posture, their poses hinting at self-ostentation.

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