YOGINI 2019
This is the first time I am showing a complete body of my paperworks- etchings and paintings. I am sharing the etchings here with you. I look forward to seeing you all today.
“In this, her most recent body of work, Seema Kohli has pushed her own matrix to embrace the sacred vernacular of the subcontinent. Here, the spiritual draws attention to the necessity for harmony and balance that the feminine being wears like a gossamer dress, a raiment that liberates her mind and body from the constraints of a patriarchal society. The inner person embraces all that is sacrosanct, its outward manifestation made visible through the use of symbols that recur frequently in her work. In this progression, Seema Kohli brings a refreshing candor to her practice, her women protagonists no longer fettered by the chains of either their body or mind. It is about the feminine energy and her various manifestations, whether it is her paintings or etchings. It’s about yoginis and dakini’s about the feminine energy and her various manifestations, whether it is her paintings or etchings”.
Who is a yogini, you ask? Jo natha, aurnarahega Magar ab hai
Vo to ektilismathai
Tu es main giraftarna ho
-AkhgharMuradabadi
The idea of all-encompassing energy exists in different faiths and cultures, under different conceptions; and it has been interpreted in various ways. I believe that this energy is the main source of creation and has the power to move the whole world. There must be a motivating factor for the existence of such an energy, and we generally believe that this is nothing or no one else but God. But what are the means to achieve that understanding? My fascination with this question led me to explore the idea of Shakti and yogini. Initially, I started to express this through paintings and drawings and later moved onto installations and more recently, performances.
I believe that to explain the manifestation from one to many,
of forms, names and a calendar of time within which each was created
can be attributed to an evocation of these energies.
It is my belief that from the mythological form of Ardhanareshwar, when Parvati disengaged from Shiva,
Shakti gained form and started manifesting as many
or what we call this world.
The three streams of creation
Absolutely intertwined and resonating with each other
Saraswati – Intellect
Lakshmi -Action
Durga – Dissolution
Augmenting into
the Saptmatrikas – the benevolent 7 mothers
the Astlakshmis – the 8 energies bestowing opulence
the Navdurgas – the 9 energies ruling the planets
the Dasmahavidyas – the 10 energies governing all knowledge
Multiplying further into Chausath Yogini – 64 yoginis
Then Ekyasi Yogini or 81 collaborative energies
Forms that continue to evolve to satisfy our needs and desires or to bring balance to the world. They appeal to me just as much as the many versions of Shakti that exist.
I share in those versions and am fascinated by their interpretations and manifestations too.
Saptmatrika the mysterious energies who they say struck terror,
venerated thus for their dangerous fecundity, their terrible wrath.
Yet, were they not simply fulfilling their destinies?
Being protective?
Nurturing?
In their zeal, they came to be represented for their darker powers,
venerated in temples as goddesses to be appeased, associated with gods either as their spouses,
or as their forms of energy,
female principles that have been ritualised, iconised, cherished, feared and filtered…
And so I undertake a journey.
A parikrama …
Excerpts from A Circle Of Our Own-a narrative performance by Seema Kohli