Pour me a dream
Pour me a thought
Pour me a feeling
Pour me a hundred emotions
Pour me a song
Walking, running, jumping, riding
Flying high on those I reach you
You are within me
So potent
So alive
Still I leap out to reach you
I see you in many
In the dry leaves of that tree
Whose blood I had sucked
Dull and colorless
In the gray waters floating with my greed
In the lifeless air which wanted to breathe
that endless kiss of love and eternity
I dared you to give me
I will not let you breathe
I will not let you live
Seema Kohli
9 November, 2016
Pour me a dream
48x36 Inches
Acrylic and ink on canvas with 24ct gold and silverl eaf
"I 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
Seema kohli
Sarva Khalvitam Maya
48x48 Inches
Acrylics and inks on canvas with 24ct gold and silver leaf
2017
“Tree of Life” is inspired by the 1st verse, 15th Chapter of Bhagwatgita in which Krishna explains to Arjuna that life is like a Banyan tree; We create the continuation of our existence by our own actions. These actions are like the roots of the banyan tree, which keep expanding over centuries and just like our karmas keep us entangled in our own births and rebirths. This is also the khel of maya.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
ऊर्ध्वमूलमध:शाखमश्वत्थं प्राहुरव्ययम् |
छन्दांसि यस्य पर्णानि यस्तं वेद स वेदवित् || 1||
śhrī-bhagavān uvācha
ūrdhva-mūlam adhaḥ-śhākham aśhvatthaṁ prāhur avyayam
chhandānsi yasya parṇāni yas taṁ veda sa veda-vit
Bhagvathgita also speaks of an eternal aśhvatth tree with its roots above and branches below or Ultavriksha. Its leaves are the intuitive knowledge, and one who knows the secret of this tree is the knower of knowledge of transcendence.
The tree of life for me is a very important element of nature and is present in all my works. It is as important as the embryonic form, as is it representational of steadfastness, rootedness, probably the only element of nature which expresses the connection of all the three worlds, or the trinity in Hindu mythology---the world beneath us (where the actual creation takes place, tamas)- Brahma, the world we are living in- Vishnu (or the sustenance or growth, rajas) ------ and also the heavens or the unknown – Mahesh (sattva, the seat of salvation or truth). The flying figures elevate one to the world of higher consciousness which we all are ultimately seeking with or without knowing.
The journey of a banyan tree is circular expressing the continuation and cyclic nature of existence. The union of yin and yang, procreation and the positive recycling is also conveyed through this simple majestic element which nature or Prakriti has put forward for us. The tree conveys the importance of saving the environment and a symbol of unity given to humanity crossing over all religions and faiths.
Over the years for me, everything amalgamates in the Golden Womb, I find the roots of tree embedded in the Golden Womb. It becomes the extension of the golden womb or Hiranyagarbha. When the creation takes place the karmic cycle begins. Life for me draws an analogy from it as it conveys unending cycle of life. This cycle is never degenerating, regressing or negative, which leads us to our path of final liberation...
Tree of life- Urdha Moola
60x66 Inches
Acrylic and ink on canvas with 24ct gold and silver leaf
2017
"My flight is beyond a zillion skies,
Suns moons and stars
I ride the waves of wind and water
I dive deep beneath the earth
finding the worlds of earth and skies
No different from the world above
or from
the world
within"
Seema Kohli
May 6, 2015
“My flight is beyond a zillion skies”
68x72 Inches
Acrylic and ink on canvas with 24ct gold and silver leaf
2015
"The concept of name,space and time divides all objects from each other.If there is no space between them they will come together as one entity.In this mass of objects there would certainly be different shapes and forms of all things at a specific space and time. This is the world view of mind where there is no concept of distinguishing by time,name and space. I am in everything and everything is me. This is the celebration of Self in selflessness"
Bhagvatgita Chapter 11/1
Bhagvatgita-Vishvaroopa
36x48 Inches
Acrylic and ink on canvas with 24ct gold and silver leaf
2015
Seema Kohli
A Tree is as important to me as is the embryonic form. It is representational of steadfastness, rootedness, probably the only element of nature which expresses the connection of all the three worlds, the world beneath us (where the actual creation takes place, tamas)- Brahma, the world we are living in- Vishnu (or the sustenance or growth, rajas) and also the heavens or the unknown – Mahesh (sattva, the seat of salvation or truth). It is the sustainer to all life forms and also symbolic of karmic cycle.
78x75 Inches,
Acrylic and ink on canvas with 24kt gold and silver leaf
2015
When the night was talking to me
telling me the stories of stars and breeze
I flew across the bright moon
as many long winged stories
sliding surely through the unknown paths
opening up the secrets of the clouds and waters
penetrating deep inside the earth
sitting underneath the red lamp
filling it with the yellow light
The Flight Within
48x72 Inches
Acrylic and ink on canvas with 24ct gold and silver leaf.
2017
यदा विनियतं चित्तमात्मन्येवावतिष्ठते |
नि:स्पृह: सर्वकामेभ्यो युक्त इत्युच्यते तदा || 18||
With thorough discipline, they learn to withdraw the mind from selfish cravings and rivet it on the unsurpassable good of the self. Such persons are free from all yearning of the senses. The painting depicts the opening up of chakras and the rising of energy through controlled chitta (mind) and becomes fixed and focused inward. It simultaneously and automatically weans away from all cravings of the senses and desires for worldly enjoyment.
36x48 Inches
Acrylic and ink on canvas with 24kt gold and silver leaf
2015
A golden Brahmini, she is one of the seven mothers or Saptmatriks's “the intelligent one with the power to separate right from wrong,” soars in the heavens on her mount the hamsa or swan whose feathered wings create great fluid arcs across the canvas.
36x48 Inches,
Acrylic and ink on canvas with 24kt gold and silver leaf
2012
"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 ritualized, iconized, cherished, feared and filtered…
And so I undertake a journey.
A parikrama …
is it of self-realization?
I empty myself to Maya.
Maya captivating me
Surprising me by my own responses to her different
forms, manifestations, incarnations"
The Golden Womb
48x36 Inches
Acrylic and ink on canvas with 24ct gold and silver leaf
2016
The emergence of the Matrikas from the body of Shakti, a process described in the Devi Mahatmya (6th Century CE) and the Vamana Purana (450-900 CE) texts. Issuing forth on curling waves of water come Aindri from her naval, Maheshwari from her mouth, Brahmini from her eye, Kaumari and Vaishnavi from her hand, Varahi from her thigh and Chamunda from her left foot. Seema has painted herself working at an easel in the lower right corner and in the lower left two women are relaxing on a rug amongst open books and by a pot of tea. This is the artist again, “contemplating and discussing these energies in her daily routine.”
68x72 Inches
Acrylic and ink on canvas with 24kt gold and silver leaf
2012
"Make no mistake, Seema’s winged protagonist is an allegory for her leap of imagination. In investing her protagonists with these appendages, it is the flight of the mind to which she is referring. Seema’s idyllic world consists of overhead skies and rooted earth betwixt which can be spotted a group of cows and fish, swans and stars. Here are glades and bowers with lotuses and flowers, flowing streams and abundant, open skies. In this enchanted setting, her figures are charmed inhabitants. Keeping vigil over this blessed world, they cavort and leap, jump and fly, together or alone."-Kishore Singh
36x48 Inches,
Acrylic and ink on canvas with 24kt gold and silver leaf,
2015
The world, which we inhabit,
we dwell upon is not a dream but a reality.
A universe that was neither male nor female.
But as it took form, it led to the birth of
Maya,
or illusion.
That which we believe.
That which we make tangible.
But that which is not.
Prakriti then,
Nature: nurturing, hence feminine.
Creation. Procreation.
A feminine percept.
A constant state of evolution, of birth and rebirth,
of creation and destruction,
and creation again…
I celebrate that aspect of creation, of nurturing, of faith, of belief
The golden womb with its umbilical cord, the lotus stems.
Its creation in muddied waters resulting in a flowering of the world
and a state of enlightenment,
a chain that carry on regardless of worlds that come and go.
The golden womb with its umbilical cord, the lotus stems.
Its creation in muddied waters resulting in a flowering of the world
and a state of enlightenment,
But my universe is complete only when all energies balance.
Yin and yang.
Positive and negative.
- Seema Kohli
The Golden Womb
72x80 inches
Acrylic and ink on canvas with 24ct gold and silver leaf
2013
To the rhythm and the dance of the flapping wings,
To the swing and the sway of the viridian leaves,
In the unleashed laughter of the roaring thunder,
In the quietness of the soft drizzle,
I sense You
Taking me closer to
You....
KALI
96x60 Inches
Acrylic and ink on canvas with 24ct gold and silver leaf
2010
The five elements are associated with the five senses, and act as the gross medium for the experience of sensations. The basest element, earth, created using all the other elements, can be perceived by all five senses – hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell. The next higher element, water, has no odour but can be heard, felt, seen and tasted. Next is fire, which can be heard, felt and seen. Air can be heard and felt. Akasha (Ether) is the medium of sound but is inaccessible to all other senses.It may be interesting to note that the relevance of these five elements has found a common thread across various civilizations.
3ft Diameter,
Acrylic and ink on canvas with 24kt gold and silver leaf
2017
If wishes were horses, we would ride them
48x48inches
Acrylic paints and inks on canvas with 24ct gold and silver leaf
2017
when the time is sewing past numbers
stitching invisible happenings
converting these memories into history
coding them into a single dimension of time
scaring all mystery of multi dimensional happening
bringing a discipline of numbers and name
I visit the space without the dimension of time
into a space of happening
20x48inches
acrylics and in on canvas with 24ct gold and pure silver leaf
2017