Seema Kohli: Contemporary Chronicler of the Ancient Myths
By Meher Kalra | Published on Mar 25, 2023 | in Contemporary Art
“I am everywhere”
everything is in my womb,
I expand in every thought
Every time I contract
The expansion is volcanic
Every time you believe I Am Not
I create a miracle
You all come from one single womb
Share the same single space
How can you despair that
I ride the mind
Holding it reins by its hair
I am a celebration
— Seema Kohli
Self-taught artist Seema Kohli’s creative repertoire is eclectic, encompassing a wide range of mediums ranging from painting, murals, performances, films to installations, sculptures and each a unique expression of her style. She has over time brought a synergy of her unique sensibilities in her art.
Kohli’s work is primarily a celebration of the female form and energy the source of the twin forces of creation and destruction. Shakti, the divine cosmic energy manifest through female embodiment has been extensively explored, engaged with, re-narratives and retold through Seema Kohli’s works. Kohli believes that she is a contemporary chronicler of the ancient myths and mythological figures of India and the artist explores the themes of beauty, sensuality and spirituality through her work. Kohli’s harmonious compositions and intricate detailing with an exceptional use of gold leaf and blue render a fantastical world of stories, myths and legends. Kohli’s current series of works The Golden Womb or Hiranyagarbha is fundamentally about energy, a phenomenon that cannot be created or destroyed but only transformed from one form into another:
“My canvases are populated by female forms but my work is not about women. It is about the female principle in all of us. The idea of energy is very fluid and actually cannot be contained with any single form. I try to contain energy within various iconographic or mythological forms. In this way, the vastness of the energy in the universe can be momentarily contained,” says the artist.
Dr Cleo Roberts, writer on contemporary South and South East Asian art, elaborates about Kohli’s current series: “… The Golden Womb, is a sensuous display of female strength. A range of women or yoginis are caught up in a fantastical world where the seas and skies conflate. Found amongst trails of flowers and flocks of birds, their bodies are loosely connected by thick plaits of hair. Amid the rich and painstakingly decorated surface, these women have no facial detail. Their blank visage, typical of Kohli’s work, asks for the viewer’s imagination. These are figures waiting to be defined. For as Kohli says, ‘I’m a mirror. When I paint, you see not what I have made but what you want to see”.
As a work in progress, The Golden Womb translates itself into polychromatic paper works, canvases and serigraphs in Kohli’s characteristic style.
Kohli (b.1960) has had 30 solo shows and has been a part of numerous national and international shows. She has participated in prestigious art fairs and biennales like collateral event at Kochi Muziris Biennale 2015, collateral event at Venice Biennale 2015, 2014, Hong Kong, 2015, Venice Architecture Biennale 2014, Art Basel 2009, ARCO Spain 2010, Shanghai Art Fair 2011, Art Stage Singapore 2012, Beijing Biennale 2012, India Art Fair 2010,2013,2014,2015 She received further acclaim for her creativity at the Florence Biennale, 2009 where she received a Gold Award for her video Swayamsiddha-Myth, Mind and Movement .She has also received the Young FICCI Ladies Organization Women Achiever’s Award in 2010 and the Lalit Kala National Award for Women in 2008.
Her works can be seen as public art at the Delhi International Airport, Mumbai International/Domestic Airport, the Defence Ministry, Tata Residency, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel, Manipal University and Hotel Leela Palace, New Delhi.
Kohli lives and works in New Delhi, India.
Reference:
Seema Kohli
https://www.seemakohli.com/
Dr. Sona Datta and Dr Cleo Roberts
https://www.safinearts.com/about-seema-kohli