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Sneha Shrestha, the Arts Program Manager at Harvard’s Lakshmi Mittal and Family Institute of South Asian Studies, is a Nepali visual artist known for her work with graffiti, Nepali scripture, and larger canvas work. Shrestha, who goes by the artist name IMAGINE, creates work that floats on the intersections of art and cultural representation.
Shrestha was born in Kathmandu, Nepal but moved to the U.S. for college before settling in Boston. In her work today, Shrestha still finds artistic inspiration from Nepal, as much of it involves painting in her native letters using Devanagari script. Devanagari is used to write in a variety of Indic languages such as Hindi, Sanskrit, and Nepali.
While Shrestha’s artistic inspiration often stems from her cultural background, she notes that growing up in Nepal, her childhood interaction with art was limited.
“I was born and raised in Nepal; I didn’t really meet artists,” Shrestha said. “I’d never been to a gallery in my life when I was in Nepal.”
Shrestha has loved writing, drawing, and painting for as long as she can remember, but it wasn’t until later in life that she contemplated turning art into a career instead of following the thread of international relations.
“Growing up in Nepal, I didn’t really have paid arts opportunities,” said Shrestha. “Arts was always on my own time, right? Like, there’s no sort of support on how to build that.”
With encouragement from her college professor, she ended up double majoring in globalization studies and studio art, but still did not think that she “was going to be an artist.” Even after obtaining her Masters in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2017, Shrestha noted that there was no particular special moment that made her pursue art, characterizing becoming an art major as an “accident” from her college days.
“I was gaining traction over the years, but I hadn’t really given it my effort as my full time job,” Shresta said. “But I think that dream started very recently, I want to say, and I’ve just gone sort of full throttle since then.”
Shrestha’s art takes multiple different forms. Her work spans projects like her “Celebration” series, which takes a look at her immigration journey, or “Devi,” a collection of portraits based on her mother.
Another artistic influence was exposure to Boston’s graffiti. This encouraged Shrestha to create a new kind of work called “calligraffiti” — a combination of writing scripted letters in a style similar to street art. This work focuses on Nepali characters drawn in swirled patterns within a large canvas, allowing the viewer to see the alphabet for what it is.
Shrestha’s work is variable in size and application, with sculptures, canvas work, and even a 60-foot-tall work on the Central Square Wall of MIT.
“It’s based on a lot of cultural pride,” Shrestha said. “It’s based on the importance of communication.”
Shrestha sees her work as a “visual language” that allows her to highlight communication and its importance. Her emphasis on enhancing the representation of scripts recently earned her the 2025 James and Audrey Foster prize at the ICA, an annual recognition of the work of Boston-area artists that has served as a launching point for the recipient’s future exhibits in other art spaces. Shrestha’s work is currently on display within the prize’s exhibit in the Institute of Contemporary Art.
Shrestha has also been instrumental in developing an arts culture for Nepal, including in her work as the founder of the Children’s Art Museum of Nepal.
“I never saw any improvement in the arts field for young people,” said Shrestha. “And so I really wanted to create a space where young people could express themselves and develop 21st-century skills and have that space to just be themselves.”
Shrestha’s work with the nonprofit has continued despite reduced capacity following the 2020 pandemic; the group has worked with over 10,000 children in what she describes as “informal learning.”
Her work with the Mittal Institute has allowed her to make even more new connections with the South Asian arts scene. Her projects have included managing the Building Artists Fellowship Program and the Distinguished Artists Fellowship Program, which bring mid-career and prominent artists of South Asia to Harvard’s resources. Shrestha has also collaborated with brands like Redbull, Neiman Marcus, and TripAdvisor, allowing her work to reach more mainstream audiences.
“I see myself in a unique position being able to help artists,” said Shrestha. “And then also, being able to stay in touch with [Nepal] and its arts, while being here.”
Throughout her artwork, Shrestha balances innovations and contemporary art with the sounds and sights of tradition, creating large and colorful works of both sculpture and painting.
“I feel like through my letters, through my colors, through the narratives that I share, is the most authentic way I can share who I am,” said Shrestha. “And carry my people with me and in a way that feels right.”
—Staff writer Neeraja S. Kumar can be reached at neeraja.kumar@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @neerajasrikumar.
