Detail: On September 6 the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, in partnership with the New York City Department of Transportation Art Program, NYC DOT Art, will unveil a new temporary public art installation by Nepalese artist IMAGINE (a.k.a. Sneha Shrestha) in Diversity Plaza in Jackson Heights, Queens. For her first public art sculpture, IMAGINE has created a six-foot-tall installation in the shape of a golden arch made of repeating rows of ‘Ka,’ the first letter of the Nepali alphabet. Titled About a Living Culture, the artwork is a celebration of the artist’s Nepalese heritage and inspired by the diverse Himalayan cultures of the neighborhood.

IMAGINE, who is from Nepal and currently works in Boston and Kathmandu, creates sculptures, paintings, and public murals around the world that often incorporate her native language and blend the aesthetics of Sanskrit scriptures with graffiti art. Her distinctive style accentuates the Devanagari script—used to write languages such as Nepali, Sanskrit, and Hindi—creating meditative artworks that transform spaces.