With Her Hair Running Wild
Seema Kohli
18 January – 15 March 2026
Gallerie Nvya, Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi
‘With Her Hair Running Wild’ presented a selection of artworks by Seema Kohli, marking different phases of her artistic journey—from a time when she was reduced to making quick sketches during the night to her trepid explorations of colour at Triveni, and the emergence of bold palettes and patterns that came to define her oeuvre.
The oldest works in the exhibition were a series of pen and ink drawings from the 80s, excerpted from the artist’s sketchbook. These drawings were executed quickly under the cover of night, once the artist had dispensed with her chores for the day.
Labouring under creative and societal constraints, the artist found herself turning towards accounts of recalcitrant and unrestrained femininity in mythology, folklore, and day-to-day life, epitomised by the figure of Kali roaming the shamshan.
The three oil paintings from 2002 marked Kohli’s tottering steps towards painterly reclamation. Painted under the tutelage of the artist Rameshwar Broota, these canvases showed symbols of confinement alongside glints of resistance.
The strongest revolutionary flare was borne not by figuration but by chroma, which entered the frames on padded paws, like the first flush of spring — heralding the emergence of the Golden Womb series.
— Text by Adwait