A self trained artist, Seema Kohli’s exhaustive practice that spans over three decades embraces a variety of mediums including paintings, sculpture, installation and performance.
The most significant one to emerge out of liner forms and paintings is ‘Performance Art’. Decay, hybridization & transformation: Creating new identity; reshaping belongings; intimacy; a dialogue of matter and memory all constitute a visual language of her work.
“Time” as a factor, is central to her practice, whether it’s a wrapped object or a performance. She uses time as medium, which is extended, assembled and captured in all her media, be it painting, sculptures or installations. The aspects of continuity, repetition, vulnerability, duration, temporality, awareness, situation and public involvement are also inherent qualities that inform her art practice. The process before and after the performance is important and challenging
Her 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.
A contemporary chronicler of the ancient myths and mythological figures of India, Kohli 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. Deeply meditative and calm, Kohli’s semi-anthropomorphic divinities surround themselves with trees, birds and animals in the lap of nature.
For Kohli, her art is an engagement with the philosophical inquiry of life.It is through the visual language of art that she tries to grasp the metaphysical truth of existence and the cosmic energy that is responsible for all creation.Employing the fundamental tenets of Buddhism, Hinduism, Sufism and Greek mythology,she emphasizes the cyclicality of existence and the rejuvenation of life forms through the unending processes of birth,death and re-birth. Kohli’s works then become a tool of meditation conceptually akin to the Buddhist mandala exploring cosmic truths and laws of the universe.A visual storyteller, she weaves stories that are not autobiographical but deeply personal. Yet, they are universal at the same time.
http://www.seemakohli.com
Related Posts
« Last Stop: This Town — Yardenne Greenspan ORIGIN STORY — Destiny Hemphill »
