About
A multidisciplinary artist working through the imagination of mythical and fantastical worlds Seema Kohli’s practice engages with the visual and performative mediums, Kohli explores the themes of beauty and sensuality echoed in philosophy and spirituality studies across civilization.
Kohli lives and works in New Delhi, India.
Her work primarily celebrates the cosmic feminine and its relationship
with forces of creation and destruction. There is a focused engagement with the concept of Hiranayagarbha or the Golden Womb through which she attempts to create new artistic identities by reshaping belongings, bringing the past and the present into a dialogue through a process of decay, hybridization and transformation.
Spanning over five decades of experimentation across form and language, her works are part of multiple museums and institutional collections all over the world, including the British Museum and Birth Rites Collection (both in the UK); Rubin Museum (USA); and, in India, the Museum of Art and Photography (Bengaluru), Bihar Museum (Patna), Kiran Nadar Museum of Art and Lalit Kala Akademi (both in New Delhi), and Bharat Bhavan (Bhopal), to name a few.
Several of her large–scale murals have been acquired by the Supreme Court (New Delhi), Sardar Patel Bhawan (Patna, Bihar), the New Delhi and Mumbai international airports, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and others. Her works have been shown at collateral events such as the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (2016), Venice Biennale of Art/Architecture (2015-16), ARCO (Madrid, 2008), Art Basel, and at the India Art Fair (2010-24), Asia Society HK, among many others. She has been an invited speaker at several conferences and institutions, including TEDx (2012), WIN Conference (2013, 2015), NGMA (Bengaluru (2010, 2014, 2016), Harvard University, University of California at Davis, University of Chicago, University of Connecticut, and the University of Buffalo, to name a few.
Several of her large–scale murals have been acquired by the Supreme Court (New Delhi), Sardar Patel Bhawan (Patna, Bihar), the New Delhi and Mumbai international airports, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and others. Her works have been shown at collateral events such as the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (2016), Venice Biennale of Art/Architecture (2015-16), ARCO (Madrid, 2008), Art Basel, and at the India Art Fair (2010-24), Asia Society HK, among many others. She has been an invited speaker at several conferences and institutions, including TEDx (2012), WIN Conference (2013, 2015), NGMA (Bengaluru (2010, 2014, 2016), Harvard University, University of California at Davis, University of Chicago, University of Connecticut, and the University of Buffalo, to name a few.
Studio
In the quiet industrial landscape of Okhla, Seema Kohli’s studio exists as a deeply personal space of retreat and return. It is not open to the public; rather, it is a place she comes to — to work, to think, to sit with her canvases, and to allow ideas to unfold in their own time.
Studio
In the quiet industrial landscape of Okhla, Seema Kohli’s studio exists as a deeply personal space of retreat and return. It is not open to the public; rather, it is a place she comes to — to work, to think, to sit with her canvases, and to allow ideas to unfold in their own time.
Language As Practice
For Seema Kohli, an experimental artist, poetry is a recorded conversation between her, the canvas, and the rendered image rendered as living consciousness that is capable of responding with emotions and sensitivity. She performs to her poetry as narratives; in 2013, she self-published a compilation of verses, “I Am” which was performed at TEDx, Chennai. She is co-author and editor of a second book, “Experiencing The Goddesses”. She is currently working on co-authoring a third book, a compilation of her poetry written over the last 17 years.
Language As Practice
For Seema Kohli, an experimental artist, poetry is a recorded conversation between her, the canvas, and the rendered image rendered as living consciousness that is capable of responding with emotions and sensitivity. She performs to her poetry as narratives; in 2013, she self-published a compilation of verses, “I Am” which was performed at TEDx, Chennai. She is co-author and editor of a second book, “Experiencing The Goddesses”. She is currently working on co-authoring a third book, a compilation of her poetry written over the last 17 years.
The Journey
A timeline tracing Seema Kohli’s artistic evolution from early explorations to expansive, immersive works, unfolding her ongoing inquiry into the feminine as a cosmic and regenerative force.
Foundational years of study and experimentation. Early engagement with the human figure and seeds of a lifelong inquiry into the feminine principle.
Development of a distinctive visual language. The female form expands into a symbolic and cosmic presence layered with intricate narratives.
Myth, multiplicity, and gold-infused surfaces define the work. The feminine becomes the universe, the womb becomes the cosmos. Growing recognition.
Movement beyond canvas into sculpture and installation. Larger scales, immersive works, and deeper philosophical engagement worldwide.
Ecological consciousness and interconnectedness come to the forefront. A continued meditative practice rooted in the feminine as origin and regenerative force.
Written Word
Sarva Kalvitam Maya
Breathe, I say to myself, approaching the studio, for breath can no longer be taken for granted, not any more, not when the oxygen has...
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Tree of Life - Aradhnareshwar
I see Tree of Life in the form of Aradhnareshwar. The display of the continous balance of energies is there in nature. It gives us...
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The World Within
Standing at the cusp of reality and the fantastical disposition of the shadows of mythical world, my artwork celebrates feminine strength, and is a representation...
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The Songs and Narrative of Hiranyagarbha
Where there is a balance, there is a union of breath of Ida and Pingala resulting in the activation of Sushmana. A space of rising...
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Braiding the Memories
“It is an ode to the grandmothers and the mothers, the soft conversations that have stayed with me while removing the entangled hair, they shifted...
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The Body and its Worlds — Inner or Outer
The Body and Its Worlds-Inner or Outer is an exploration of the layered consciousness, usingdual tones to bridge the visible world with the invisible depths...
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I hold a Tree or the Tree holds me
The intricate bond between humans and nature, symbolized by I hold a Tree or the Tree holds me, underscores our profound interdependence. As environmental challenges...
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Sarva Khalvitam Maya
“I am everywhere”everything is in my womb,I expand in every thoughtEvery time I contractThe expansion is volcanicEvery time you believe I Am NotI create a...
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Chausat Yogini (64 Yoginis)
I believe that there first existed a womb through which everything came to be created, which I call the golden womb or the ‘Hiranyagarbha’. This...
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A Circle of Our Own — Fragments of the Whole
I move in a circular motion, Like time As does life and death itself Energy passing from one space to another So is the idea...
ReadI 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
Sarva khalvitam Maya, 2017
Concept & Direction: Seema KohliCinematography Edit & Sound: Sakthi Doss A 12 minute capturing Seema Kohli’s involvement and the whole process of the making of the artworks at...
Grid of 84 archival prints of self-portraits, of 10x10inch. The cycle of life revolves around birth, death and the eventual liberation from mortality. All forms of life follow...
Single Channel Installation Performance & Concept: Seema KohliCinematography: Marlène Ila Popovic, Sakthi BhagatEditing: Marlene Ila PopovicSound Design: Sahil Vasudeva “We see death as a full stop. But it...
Concept, Script & Direction: Seema Kohli Photography & Videography: Sakthi Bhagat Editor: Tariq Vasudeva Music: Sahil Vasudeva Animation: Gaurav Singh Bedi “Seema Kohli’s Enter Stillness is a fable...
