World Within World – In the Art of Seema Kohli

Hong Kong Visual Arts Center, Hong Kong, presented by Sanchit Art Gallery, 13–19 September 2023

Seema Kohli is a prolific, multidiscipline artist who defies all labels such as modern, traditional, contemporary, feminist, et al and who can transcend the mundane and the sublime through her art. Seema’s phenomenal energy and creative outpourings are inspired by spirituality, mythology and contemporary worlds which in her practice coexist as real and immediate. She uses her personal imagery to depict the Indian concept of Maya or illusion and the continuous renewal of life and its forms which communicate the fragile nature of time and its transient nature. The artist visualises a momentary world where memories and sensibilities are captured often in the form of a woman’s body that embodies the earth, moon, stars, solar system and galaxies only to be able to capture the world of duality and the eternal nature of the universe.

On the other hand, in the Golden Womb Series a golden orb or egg is often depicted against mundane scenes of a mid-summer afternoon spent reading a book, painting or drinking tea on the urban housing terraces by familiar groups of women, or woman sitting on the floor facing a dressing mirror in which the Universal Mother principle of Vaishnavi is seen riding on the Vahana of Hindu God Vishnu, Garuda. This conjures a sense of realism and make belief world, mythology and spirituality, seen and unseen, imagined and real where Seema’s imagery of women seen with a pair wings ride or fly on swans, deer, lions and elephants. Depicted with intricately painted bodies, patterned clothes and drapes, Seema’s art creates a rich tapestry of textures, patterns and tightly packed spaces where figures float freely conjuring a vision of a scene from a mythic world within world and body within body.

This exhibition drawing on Seema Kohli’s large body of works, mainly drawing on her Golden Womb Series and Hindu Myths Series, is curated by Dr Gauri Parimoo Krishnan, based out of Singapore and India.

More than 30 paintings have specifically been created for the show in the past 3 years from “The Golden Womb” series. All the artworks are in acrylic colours and ink on canvas with 24kt gold and silver leaf.