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In Silence the Secrets Speak

Lectures
In Silence the Secrets Speak
In Silence the Secrets Speak
In Silence the Secrets Speak
In Silence the Secrets Speak
In Silence the Secrets Speak
In Silence the Secrets Speak
In Silence the Secrets Speak

About The Experience

In Silence the Secrets Speak was presented as a lecture and workshop by Seema Kohli at the University at Buffalo’s Center for the Arts in October 2017. The event brought together students, faculty, and the public for an immersive engagement with Kohli’s philosophical inquiry, artistic process, and performative practice.

The lecture traced the influence of ancient and modern Indian traditions – mythology, Vedantic thought, Buddhist philosophy, Sufi mysticism, and classical iconography on Kohli’s evolving spiritual and artistic journey. Through visual presentations of paintings, sculptures, installations, and performance works, she articulated how her practice emerged from an ongoing dialogue between myth and lived experience.

At the core of the lecture was the concept of Hiranyagarbha – The Golden Womb, a recurring and foundational motif in Kohli’s oeuvre. Drawing from Vedic philosophy, she explored the womb as sacred space: the site of creation, dissolution, and renewal. For Kohli, creation was not linear but cyclical an eternal rhythm of birth, death, transformation, and rebirth. The feminine principle, Shakti, Prakriti was positioned as the generative cosmic force that animates all existence.

Her reflections moved fluidly between philosophy and material practice. Gold leaf, a medium she has uniquely adapted into her visual language, was discussed not merely as ornamentation but as symbolic luminosity: a metaphysical surface that embodies transcendence, fragility, and sacred radiance. The workshop that followed offered participants insight into this process, demonstrating how traditional techniques were reinterpreted within a contemporary narrative framework.

Kohli also addressed her engagement with archetypal dualities, masculine and feminine, destruction and regeneration, myth and reality, often embodied in figures such as Ardhanarishvara. Rather than representing hybridity, she described these forms as metaphors for wholeness: the completion of a cosmic circle.

The lecture extended into questions that have consistently shaped her practice:
Is the role of the contemporary artist distinct from that of a priest, shaman, or storyteller?
Does art function as ritual, meditation, or philosophical inquiry?

For Kohli, art becomes a contemplative tool — akin to a mandala — through which metaphysical truths may be approached. Her works, rich in gold, blue, intricate line, and narrative layering, seek to recover and rearticulate the feminine voice within cultural history. They are not autobiographical, yet they remain deeply personal, resonating universally through shared mythic memory.

In Silence the Secrets Speak ultimately unfolded as an exploration of the self in relation to the cosmos. Through visual storytelling and spoken reflection, Kohli illuminated the interconnected energies that bind body, memory, mythology, and universe affirming her belief that art, life, and sharing exist in continuous convergence.

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