Rossi & Rossi Hong Kong is pleased to present Hello Darkness…My Old Friend, the fifth solo exhibition of Tsherin Sherpa (b. 1968, Kathmandu, Nepal) with the gallery, opening on 20 September through 22 November 2025. On view is a new body of works depicting souls in unfamiliar terrains as they navigate the ever-changing realities of the contemporary world. These works embody the psyche of the present-day Himalayan diaspora, as well as that of other diasporas in the broader world – those who find themselves mediating between traditional cultures and beliefs with fast-changing, modern-day systems.

To create this series, Sherpa repurposed black thangka painting, a tantric art form within the Himalayan tradition that symbolises the transformation of negative energies through its depictions of wrathful protective deities. Moulding these deities into his spirits, Sherpa channels their fierce energies over the negative chaos of the surrounding world that threatens to engulf them.

Black thangka paintings incorporate ground-up black pigment, originally believed to come from the ashes of a holy monk, overlaid with gold and various colours that symbolise pure, transformative materials. Surrounded by this empty darkness, the wrathful deities help practitioners to reflect on impermanence and emptiness, the core concepts embodied within Buddhist philosophy.

Through the present series, Sherpa delves into the unprecedented, negative chaos of the contemporary world, reimagining the spirits as characters processing its fluctuating emotions. The black background mirrors the chaos of the world in which he finds himself. As the spirits inhabit and transform the darkness, the artist navigates the changing realities around him. Thus, the spirits in Hello Darkness…My Old Friend explore new, darker terrains, as they playfully assert their resolve to thrive and transform the modern world.
Concurrent with Tsherin Sherpa’s most recent works is a presentation of Himalayan masterpieces from the 10th to the 18th century, offering an opportunity for a closer look into a selection of rare paintings, stone sculptures and bronzes from India, Nepal, Tibet and China.