Snakes, Big Tech, and Jewelry-Making With Arpana Rayamajhi

“To create one’s own world takes courage,” said Georgia O’Keeffe.

Inspired by whatever motif or philosophy that’s captured her attention, Arpana Rayamajhi creates one-of-a-kind jewels that encapsulate the vibrant colors of her childhood in Kathmandu, Nepal and the punk rock romanticism of New York City. The multidisciplinary artist, whose current focus is on jewelry making, studied painting and sculpture at Cooper Union and began making jewelry just for the fun of it; to remind herself that despite studying at a “super heady” school, art should be made freely—without the inward and outward pressures of scrutiny.

A meditation on her past and present, Arpana’s upcoming series, The Snake Charmer, is a product of her interest in the cultural mythology of snakes and recurring dreams of her own. It began as a collection of drawings is now coming to life as wearable art that will launch this spring.

To accompany the drop, Arpana also taught herself how to make a film (talk about using your quarantine time wisely) and we can’t wait to see how she brings it to life.

How's your day going? What's the energy in New York City like right now?

It's going pretty well. New York is amazing despite being hit hard. I can't complain but it's not been easy for everyone here.

I read in an interview you said, "I was always the daughter of my mother first." I infer that you were viewed as an extension of your family with every move you made. Can you elaborate on what it was like for you to be an adolescent girl growing up in Nepal?

Well, being a woman in Nepal be it a baby, adolescent or a woman can be tricky even if you are born fairly privileged. It’s spectrum and I fell on the luckier side because my family is very liberal with a mix of traditional values. I am now wise enough to say that some traditional values are important. Being from the city like Kathmandu is drastically different than being born in a small remote village. As I'm growing, I realize that I can only speak for myself and I cannot speak for other/ all women in Nepal because we all have such different lives. I also have to say that Nepali women (again depending on your karma) have it better than some of our neighbors. There are so many things to say about being a woman back home but to keep things short: in comparison, women in the US have it a lot easier over all.

You moved to NYC to pursue being an artist. We all go into the next phases of our lives with great expectations--and as planned, you did become an artist! What were some things you expected to happen and what did happen? 

I am lucky. I've worked very hard and continue to do so—but it would mean nothing if Cooper Union didn't accept me, if people didn't support me, if writers didn't write about my work, if clients didn't buy my jewelry and if fashion companies and people in the industry didn't give me a chance. I still have a lot to accomplish and more growing to do, but I’ve realized that the dreams keep getting bigger and satisfaction isn't always a fleeting feeling. I didn't foresee social media taking over our lives as much and I didn't expect things would be as corporate as they are now. Technology companies and their influence are so pervasive in our society and lives, that sometimes I worry about our future. Maybe it's the fear of the unknown that's talking, but we cannot deny that social media has divided and polarized the US culture tremendously. I worry that the rest of the world is being affected by the media here more now than ever.

What are you currently working on now?

I'm in the process of releasing my new series of jewelry , The Snake Charmer. I've been drawing and even making a film to go with it. It's my first time making a film, so it's been the most creatively challenging process in every possible way. But everything that didn't work out along the way has taught me the most. I've written a few small films for my other series. With time, I will be able to share that with everyone as well.

How did you start your jewelry business and platform? What was that process like from starting small to evolving to where you are now? When did the representation by Pool Creatives come into play?

I started making jewelry while I was enrolled at Cooper, broke, and struggling to be in a super heady school. I wanted to remind myself why I decided to pursue the arts: because its fun and it's extremely fulfilling above any other blah blah of what it means or should mean. I had been secretly making jewels for about two years before I developed a style and then I started to wear them out. My friends showed interest and I put them up on Instagram and that’s how it organically grew. I started working with pool in 2018, two years after I had already done a bunch of work and came across their radar. Delphine (the founder) has been great!

Do the majority of your pieces start out as illustrations? You sent over some photographs of the snake charmer--what provoked you about the mythology of snakes?

Most of my beaded pieces happen organically. I will be drawn to a motif and I'll figure that out, but over time I’ve developed a bead language and vocabulary to know how I want it to look without having to draw them out. I need to learn new techniques, but I am taking a temporary break from beading to do more metal and fine jewelry pieces which requires me to prep by drawing beforehand. I dream about snakes often or go through periods of dreaming about them. Snakes are also animals we worship back home in Nepal and according to myths, Kathmandu Valley used to be a big lake where a lot of serpents lived. I do not have a "religious/cultural" angle to my work as much as interest in the symbolism of snakes around the world.

What's been interesting you lately? What’s taking up the most real estate in your mind?

The general state of the world socio-politically and where I fit in. I have also been consumed with cinema. I’ve been watching so many French New Wave and "international" films and it's been a super enriching experience. It's funny for me to use the word international—I am not sure if I mean it as a Nepali or someone living in New York or both.

I see you enrolled in acting school. How has that been? Have you been taking classes all virtually or is any of it in person? What drew you to acting?

I did a crash course in the summer of 2018 and loved it so much that I decided to take the full two year course of the Meisner Technique at William Esper Studio. It's been incredible. Acting is incredibly hard if you try to fake it, or at least that has been true in my experience. It's about honesty and expressing oneself truthfully in an imaginary setting, but I do tend to pull from life experiences as well. We were supposed to graduate in June 2020 but the pandemic ended classes in March. After that, we tried to do online classes and about four classes in, we all collectively decided it was pretty strange without being able to physically be together. My mother is the reason I chose acting; she was an actor. I shied away from it all my life, but it was time that I did it.

What is one insecurity you've had to overcome to be successful:

When I am successful, I will let you know—but the one that shall maybe always remain is "is this good enough?"

Share your 5 essential beauty products:

Green tea, sleep, moisturizer, the ocean and happiness.

Something you love about yourself:

I work very hard and I think for myself. I'm extremely difficult to manipulate and I stand my ground. Also, my curiosity.

I love that you have said you're always going through a phase. Looking back, what was one of your favorite phases?

I love all of my phases when going through them! I seem to quickly grow out of one and then go back to it again. Since the pandemic, I'm back to wearing all black—very much like when I was going to underground metal concerts as a teenager.

In a past-life, you were probably a:

The Snake Charmer! Hopefully, I was a wolf or a colorful bird or a fish that migrated long distance.

Describe your perfect party:

Hopefully at the beach with close friends, smoking weed, drinking wine, eating good food, listening to good music and laughing a lot. And hopefully someone at the party is wasted enough in good humor and starts dancing or doing something silly.