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Between Realms and Dreams, Along Reality’s Edge

Bihar Museum, Patna

2024

Between Realms and Dreams, Along Reality’s Edge

Between Realms and Dreams, Along Reality’s Edge, a solo exhibition of acclaimed multi- disciplinary artist, poet, and dreamer Seema Kohli (b. 1960), brings together key bodies of work in diverse media, encompassing works on paper, paintings, sculptures, installation, moving-image, etchings, textiles, photography, serigraphs and manifestations as prints that form Kohli’s rigorous practice. 


Swaying between the vivid, emotional, and surreal flights of, and in-between alternate universes, the exhibition, Between Realms and Dreams, Along Reality’s Edge, showcases a will to break free from self-contained planes of existence, concurrent with one’s own. Some of the oldest cultures and accounted pieces of literature have revealed parallel worlds that transpose conquests, where protagonists seek, explore or conquer. On one hand there is the Persian text of ‘One Thousand and One Nights’, a tale narrated by Yamlikha, the serpent queen, to Hasib Karim al-Din after he enters her realm.

Between Realms and Dreams, Along Reality’s Edge
Between Realms and Dreams, Along Reality’s Edge
Between Realms and Dreams, Along Reality’s Edge
Between Realms and Dreams, Along Reality’s Edge
Between Realms and Dreams, Along Reality’s Edge

A disquisition of search, discovery and feat as it speaks of proponent, Buluqiya, who leaves for a voyage to sift through seven islands, before he returns home to be king. On the other hand, the western, Norse mythology contests ‘ordinary’ land to the land of ‘Alfheim’, an otherworldly home to elves, fairies and other folkloric creatures. There is also the Japanese concept of ‘Isekai’, of which the earliest traces can be found in the tales of ‘Urashima Tarō’. With a bi-focal tradition, the stories may be divided into the protagonist either “transitioning into another world” or “reincarnating into another world”. Several other records may be found, with claims of being fact or fiction — where there is a walk through a mirror to a strange new world, crossing oceans to reach unknown waters as well as myths and legends that express infinite universes, each with its own gods. Till date, the most notable physicists and researchers debate its faculty. The idea, first put forward by Max Plank in the 1900s, resulted in the possibilities of deeper laws at work. A doctoral candidate at Princeton University, Hugh Everett, sought an evolutionary system to show there may be parallel worlds that exist with our own, comparing the scenario to branches of a tree. The works as part of the exhibit, Between Realms and Dreams, Along Reality’s Edge, are unconcerned about the matter of fact. The artist rather, poetically clutches and caresses free rein, taking autonomy to gracefully unfurl shackles.
As one goes through the exhibition, narratives around the golden womb, which is the self- pervading source from which the entire cosmos emerges, are unveiled. There is a birthing that takes place. Birthing, which is not just of physicality but also of cerebral intuition and that of spirit. To consider a serigraph as part of the exhibition, titled Almost Everything Notes on Hope (2021), one can see the expansion of cognizance through knowledge. Inception hints at inquiry. One sees visual dialects of seeking, as they question identity, faith, norms, duties, teachings, to pivot, rivet, compare, morph to alter then assess and gauge a material existence. For instance, in the
presented in a set of 84 prints Ouroboros (2013), the artist uses physiognomy to portray an introspection, to pierce through an assigned self. The artist shape shifts from one form to another, moving in and out of skins, bones and attires. Identity and anatomy, at instances, also manifest themselves as a world of its own. The next stage is that of discovery, which is an equivalent of sprouting, blooming, flourishing. There is a gradual, timely anthesis of the self. An example is the acrylic and ink on canvas work with 24-carat gold and silver leaf, titled, Hiranyagarbha – Time, Space, Movement (2023). And finally, there is a flight. An act of emancipation, which can be seen through multiple works including, Altered reality (2023), Narratives & Songs of Hiranyagarbha of Riding of Winds (2023) and Flight Within (2023). This is a flight of liberation, where whims are set free. There are fractures that blur confines between realms, dreams and reality.

Altered Reality

Altered Reality

Threadworks, Embroidery

I Hold The Universe In The Center Of My Palm

I Hold The Universe In The Center Of My Palm

Threadworks, Embroidery

Flight Within

Flight Within

Threadworks, Embroidery

Riding of Winds

Riding of Winds

Threadworks, Embroidery

1851

1851

Paperworks, Serigraphs

1848

1848

Paperworks, Serigraphs

1186

1186

Paperworks, Serigraphs

1184

1184

Paperworks, Serigraphs

1322

1322

Paperworks, Serigraphs

Tree of Life, A448

Tree of Life, A448

Sculptures, Bronze

Nagabandha, A450

Nagabandha, A450

Sculptures, Bronze

Behold, A518

Behold, A518

Sculptures, Bronze

Narshimi, A505

Narshimi, A505

Sculptures, Bronze

Burak, A504

Burak, A504

Sculptures, Bronze

Sohamsa, A449

Sohamsa, A449

Sculptures, Bronze

Riding The Waves Of Wind And Water, A404

Riding The Waves Of Wind And Water, A404

Sculptures, Bronze

Rising of Kundilini, A445

Rising of Kundilini, A445

Sculptures, Bronze

Maheshwari, A432

Maheshwari, A432

Sculptures, Bronze

Ganga, S 438

Ganga, S 438

Paperworks, Archival Photographic Works / Drawings

Ganga, S 439

Ganga, S 439

Paperworks, Archival Photographic Works / Drawings

84 Archival Prints Ouroborous

84 Archival Prints Ouroborous

Paperworks, Archival Photographic Works / Drawings

Veil

Veil

Paperworks, Archival Photographic Works / Drawings

The Woven Web

The Woven Web

Paperworks, Archival Photographic Works / Drawings

Sitting Across-Sena Bar Sena

Sitting Across-Sena Bar Sena

Paperworks, Archival Photographic Works / Drawings

Self

Self

Paperworks, Archival Photographic Works / Drawings

Do I Need a Body To Fly

Do I Need a Body To Fly

Paperworks, Archival Photographic Works / Drawings

But I Have Strong Wings

But I Have Strong Wings

Paperworks, Archival Photographic Works / Drawings

Everything Has It’s Journey…Everything Is Living

Everything Has It’s Journey…Everything Is Living

Paperworks, Archival Photographic Works / Drawings

354

354

Paperworks, Archival Photographic Works / Drawings

351

351

Paperworks, Archival Photographic Works / Drawings

S 082

S 082

Paperworks, Archival Photographic Works / Drawings

S 081

S 081

Paperworks, Archival Photographic Works / Drawings

S 080

S 080

Paperworks, Archival Photographic Works / Drawings

Related Performances

The Word for World is Home

The performance was presented at Kolkata Creativity Center Concept, script, and direction: Seema Kohli In The Word for World is Home Seema Kohli reclaims a new universalism, this...

A Circle of Our Own

The performance was presented in 2019 at the amphitheatre in Sunder Nursery, New Delhi A Circle of Our Own is an experiential narrative performance by Seema Kohli that...

The Fourth Moon

Performed at National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru as part of her ongoing Exhibition 'Kaal Netra - Sacred Matrices' Concept, script, and direction: Seema KohliPhotography & Videography: Sakthi...

In Silence the Secrets Speak

Performed at the Royal Opera House, Mumbai Video is available on demand Concept, Script & Direction: Seema KohliPerformance: Seema Kohli and Lokesh Bhardwaj In Silence the Secrets Speak...

Making of ‘Cut from the Same Cloth’

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...

Ouroborus

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...

Swayamsiddha: Myth, Mind and Movement Swayamsiddha

Double Channel Video Installation Video is available on demand Concept, Script & Direction: Seema KohliPerformance: Seema Kohli and HimaniPhotography: Avdesh Singh, Narendra Rai and Svabhu KohliStill Photography: Anshika...

Raks-e-Shams: Unending Dance of Light | 2014

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...

Enter Stillness | 2022
Enter Stillness | 2022 | 2022 9 minutes 39 seconds

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...

Parikrima | 2013
Parikrima | 2013 19 minutes, 19 seconds

Single Channel Film, 16:9 Aspect Ratio Concept, Script, Direction & Art: Seema Kohli Camera: Marlene Popovic Editors: Seema Kohli and Marlene Popovi Music: Sahil Vasudeva Vocals: Bindhu Malini...

EXHIBITIONS
  • ALL
  • CANVAS
  • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
  • ARCHIVAL PRINT
  • DRAWING
  • OIL ON CANVAS
  • PAINTING ON WOOD
  • PAPERWORKS
  • ARCHIVAL PHOTOGRAPHIC WORKS / DRAWINGS
  • ETCHING
  • LITHOGRAPHS
  • PAINTINGS
  • SERIGRAPHS
  • WOODCUT
  • ZINC PLATE INTAGLIO PRINT
  • SCULPTURES
  • BRONZE
  • GLASS-REINFORCED POLYMER
  • PAINTINGS
  • SANDSTONE
  • TERRACOTTA
  • WOODEN
  • THREADWORKS
  • CLOTH
  • EMBROIDERY
  • WOODWORKS
  • ACRYLIC ON WOOD
  • ALL
  • CANVAS
  • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
  • ARCHIVAL PRINT
  • DRAWING
  • OIL ON CANVAS
  • PAINTING ON WOOD
  • PAPERWORKS
  • ARCHIVAL PHOTOGRAPHIC WORKS / DRAWINGS
  • ETCHING
  • LITHOGRAPHS
  • PAINTINGS
  • SERIGRAPHS
  • WOODCUT
  • ZINC PLATE INTAGLIO PRINT
  • SCULPTURES
  • BRONZE
  • GLASS-REINFORCED POLYMER
  • PAINTINGS
  • SANDSTONE
  • TERRACOTTA
  • WOODEN
  • THREADWORKS
  • CLOTH
  • EMBROIDERY
  • WOODWORKS
  • ACRYLIC ON WOOD
  • ALL
  • ART FAIR/ BIENNALES
  • CANVAS
Bodies of Work
  • ALL
  • HERBS OF INHERITANCE
  • KHULA AASMAN
  • MOON MYTHS
  • SAPTA MATRIKA
  • SHAKTI
  • TANTRA
  • THE GOLDEN WOMB SERIES
  • TREE OF LIFE
  • YOGINIS
  • ALL
  • ARTICLES
  • EXHIBITIONS
  • PAINTINGS
  • PERFORMANCES