And, Govinda saw it like this, this smile of the mask, this smile of oneness above the flowing forms, this smile of simultaneousness above the thousand births and deaths, this smile of Siddhartha was precisely the same, was precisely of the same kind as the quiet, delicate, impenetrable, perhaps benevolent, perhaps mocking, wise, thousand-fold smile of Gotama, the Buddha, as he had seen it himself with great respect a hundred times. Like this, Govinda knew, the perfected ones are smiling.”

Herman Hesse closes his novel Siddhartha, a story of the eponymous character’s journey toward spiritual understanding in India during the time of Buddha, with this image of Govinda. A Buddhist monk, Govinda likewise spends his lifetime seeking enlightenment, finally visiting an old ferryman rumored to have reached nirvana. He’s surprised to find that the mysterious hermit is his childhood friend, Siddhartha, who then shares the oneness of the world with him.

Hesse’s imagery aptly describes Nepalese artist Sharmila Shahi Faiia’s work. Her Buddhas smirk at viewers, while other paintings portray modern day festivals and figures. Currently residing in Cairo, the artist uses icons from her home country’s major religions, Hinduism and Buddhism, in many of her paintings, often fusing them with symbols from other religions. She paints traditional patterns and figures in bold colors, the splashes of red and green giving even the most serene Buddha a vibrant backdrop.

Faiia began studying art only five years ago when she took a class hoping to paint a wall mural of a forest as a background for two wooden giraffe statues in her home. “I saw an ad for art classes [when living in Sri Lanka], and gave it a call,” Faiia says. “I didn’t know anything about art, but I wanted to draw a tree.”

What began as an interior design project quickly became a passion. Though frustrated early on with the repetitive nature of the class, Faiia eventually spent five hours a day studying her craft while living in Sri Lanka for her husband’s work. When a deadly tsunami ravaged parts of the country in 2004, Faiia wanted to do something to help. She decided to organize an exhibition of her work and donate the proceeds to the victims of the tsunami.

With her teacher’s reassurance, she held her first exhibit, God Help Us, in Colombo, Sri Lanka in February 2005 and sold eight paintings.

“She gave herself a goal — ‘Okay, I’m going to be an artist, I’m going to have an exhibition’ — and then that motivated her somehow to diversify and start doing different things, [having] more output,” says her husband, Scott.

As her skills expanded, so did her subject matter. Faiia found that very few people in Egypt are familiar with Nepalese traditions, and she enjoys sharing the culture she loves by melding it with images and symbols from other religions. She already has paintings featuring Christian figures Mary and Jesus, but depicted in a Hindu style.

“I don’t just concentrate on one religion; for me all religion is the same. That’s one reason I try to do this combining thing. Religion is universal,” she says. “I want to promote [awareness about] my country. My country is such a tiny country and people don’t know much [about it]. Sure, there is Mount Everest, but I am so lucky to have these exhibitions as a chance to talk about Nepalese art and culture.”

Using bright acrylics and watercolors on canvas, Faiia captures the enigmatic nature of her culture with vibrant interpretations of religious art. In one painting, the Hindu god Ganesh fluidly tosses away his symbolically held ax and fan in preparation for dancing.

The petite artist shares Ganesh’s excitement for dance. She has performed since the age of eight, taking the stage for school events and eventually to raise money for charity in adulthood.

Nepal also has a long history of dance and artistic creation. Faiia is from the Katmandu Valley, an area that was ruled by her tribe, the Newar. Many of the images Faiia portrays in her work have been repeated for centuries in Newar art. Despite the strong tradition, Faiia doesn’t hesitate to experiment with the classical poses of deities, mixing and matching figures just as she juxtaposes religions to find the right balance for a piece.

“Because I have a standing Buddha on top and a half-meditating Buddha on bottom. Standing Buddha is very famous. I put his body with [the other] one and my teacher says, ‘you have to take responsibility [for your interpretations] — people complain’,” she says.

Faiia hopes to incorporate Islam into a piece as a tribute to her time in Egypt, but plans to take her teacher’s advice and be certain to interpret Islam and Egypt with respect. “I wanted to do one Muslim [piece], but [I’m] thinking on how I can combine it. I want to do one before I leave, but maybe I have to be very, very careful.”

While Faiia is still unsure about how she’ll proceed, she hopes to create something that is more than just a stark still life painting of a Ramses bust. “I want to do something — calligraphy, a mosque. [But] I don’t want to take just a mosque, I want it to be inspired,” she says. “I don’t want to imitate. I don’t want to just draw pyramids. My friend says, ‘I want to buy a picture of the pyramids and camel. Can you do that?’ I can, but why would you want that?”  et