October 1, 2009 – This month we are presenting Mr. Kapil Mani Dixit, a very talented and successful Nepali artist who graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington and resided in DFW Metroplex for over a decade before returning to his hometown Kathmandu, Nepal last year.

“Art is every artist’s inner feeling”, says Kapil when we asked him about how he defines art. He says he keeps himself as a subject whenever he sits to paint.

Painting has been a passion of Mr. Dixit since a very early age of eight. His own father who also painted inspired him. His teachers in school also encouraged him to be an artist. He finished his Intermediate in Arts from Tribhuwan University and moved to the United States for higher education. He attended the University of Texas at Arlington and graduated with a degree in Fine Arts in 2003.

Like many others, he started professional painting with landscape paintings. But when he moved to Texas, things were different. The flat landscape of Texas was very different to Kapil, who was used to moving his brush gazing at gorgeous hills and mountains of Nepal. So he started painting images of lord Ganesh. He also organized a solo exhibition of his paintings of lord Ganesh at UTA. Both his colleagues and the visitors admired them.

He then joined North Lake College, where he would find his ultimate passion for painting – Nudity. Following suggestions and encouragement of his friends and professors he started nude paintings and continued it for the next eight years that he spent in Texas. During those years, as an art student at North Lake College, Kapil took part in several art exhibitions and was soon a popular name in the college and among Nepali community living in DFW.

Painting has become a means of living for Mr. Dixit. But it does not end there. His paintings have been parts of several humanitarian deeds as well. He held a silent auction to sell some of his paintings to help the victims of hurricane Katrina when he witnessed the devastating aftermath of the hurricane while he was driving through Louisiana. His also raised a large sum of money, via auction of his paintings, for treatment of Nawraj silwal, a fellow Nepali student at North Lake College, who was diagnosed with brain tumor.

Before moving back to Nepal in 2008, Mr. Dixit donated all of his art works (sculptures, drawing and paintings) to the art club which were later auctioned by North Lake College to establish a scholarship fund. The scholarship is awarded as Kapi Dixit Excellence Award to both national and international art students attending North Lake College. Anybody interested to apply for the award can contact Marty Ray or Chirs Fulmer at North Lake College Art Department.

Now back to his home in Kathmandu, Kapil is working hard to create a niche of himself among Nepali artists. He has his own art studio named “Apt#8 Art Studio” located in Sundhara, Kathmandu. The studio was named so to revive his memories in the U.S. He used to live in Apartment #8 in one of the apartment complexes in Irving, Texas. He says, “The name Apt#8 reminds me of my good as well as hard time in the Unites States.” Currently all of his art works are being displayed in the studio. Anybody interested could go and visit his Apt#8 Studio in Sundhara.

His current subject of painting is nudity, which is still a subject of taboo in Nepali society. He says, “It might take another decade or so before people in Nepal take my art work seriously.” However, he found Nepali press and media intrigued by his work. He is happy living with his family and doing what he loves to do.

He says, “I feel most alive when I am painting.”

We wish him Good luck with his work and thank him for the time he set aside to talk with us.

Here are some of Kapil’s paintings and some photos of himself working. Click to enlarge the photos.

Brief Bio

Kapil Mani Dixit
Birth Place : Kathmandu
Current Residence : Kathmandu, Nepal
Hobbies : Listening to songs (mostly Ghazals and especially while painting)

• Education:
• Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas
• Intermediate of Fine Arts, Tribhuvan University, Fine Arts College, Kathmandu, Nepal
• Honors/Awards:
• People Choice Award, North Lake Collage, Irving, Texas
• Special Achievement Award, North Lake Collage, Irving, Texas
• Best of the Show, North Lake Collage, Irving, Texas
• 1st Runner-up, League for Innovation, North Lake College, Irving, Texas
• Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Recognizing Excellence in Student Media, 3rd Place Illustration
• Winner of Spotlight show 2006, North Lake College, Irving, Texas
• Winner of 1ST Prize, 4th Annual Valentine’s art show, Gallery 171, University of Texas at Arlington,Texas
• Honored in a Who’s Who among students in American junior colleges, Navarro College, Corsicana, Texas

Contact: [email protected]

Website: www.kapildixit.com

Interview Video

The interview video is a recording of online video call with Kapil Dixit by dfwNepal.com team.