The Ohio Artist Registry (OAR) is an exciting opportunity for artists to share their work, connect with the creative community, and establish an online presence—all on a free, virtual platform! The OAR encourages artists working in all art forms, throughout Ohio and beyond, to create a profile, which allows them to better promote themselves and their work. Being listed in the OAR provides artists with new opportunities to share their work with clients, galleries, patrons, and audiences. A listing in the OAR does not confer an endorsement, approval, or verification by the Ohio Arts Council.
For more information, contact Kathy Signorino, artist programs director, at kathy.signorino@oac.ohio.gov or 614-728-6140.
2024 Ohio Artist Registry Juried Exhibition
Anita Maharjan
Artist/entrepreneurColumbus OH 43224 United States Home Phone: 469-835-3080 Website: http://anitamaharjan.com
Bio
Anita Maharjan is a local Columbus-based artist, originally from Nepal. She came to the
United States in 2008 to pursue higher education in art. She is proud to be the first
woman in her family to hold a college degree. Anita earned her Bachelor’s degree in
Fine Arts from the University of North Texas, and holds a Master’s degree in Fine Arts
with a teaching certificate from the Columbus College of Art and Design. Anita has
taught at Columbus College of Art and Design as an adjunct professor, and
taught art at Fugees Academy, a school for refugees.
Anita has exhibited her work in many cities in Texas and Ohio, including the Columbus
Museum of Art. She received the 2017 Creative Women’s Award at The Ohio Art Fair,
and has been featured in Dallas Morning News, Columbus Underground, Columbus Alive, Broad and High
and Columbus Dispatch. She has received several Best of Show awards, and has
presented solo shows in Dallas and Columbus.
Artist Statement
I work between two and three dimensions, creating installations that merge traditional Nepali weaving with contemporary western materiality.
My process is inspired by the mats I learned to make growing up in Nepal, where my mother wove mats as a part of her livelihood. Weaving in my culture is mostly an uneducated woman’s job. As a fine artist I weave with the same traditional techniques, representing the art/craft/labor of those underprevileged women. In Nepal mats are woven with agricultural waste products; in my work I reflect contemporary western culture’s waste by weaving with discarded plastic bags, bed sheets and paper.
The weaving style, distorted forms, and blend of materials reflect my multicultural identity- how I shape it and how it is shaping me. I see myself in both cultures, woven together into the fabric of something new and different, yet somehow familiar.