Artist Seema Kohli believes that energy is the source of all every living entity on Earth. She explains to Shrabasti Mallik that her series Yogini, to be exhibited at the India Art Fair, is about the celebration of form that is constantly recreating itself
The ordinary does not interest her, neither does anything simple. Seema Kohli finds meaning and solace in the spiritual — the greater unknown force that is above all. She has mentioned time and again that the centre of her artistic vision is the ‘Golden Womb’ which she calls, “my refrain and my leitmotif.”
But at the much awaited India Art Fair which will throw open its doors to art enthusiasts and connoisseurs on January 28, Kohli will be showcasing her series Yogini and Dasaavtar at Gallery Art Positive.
The series are sculptural paintings by the artist, which are hand painted. “The basic concept of the Yogini is the Shiv Shakti or the Yin-Yang. They are painted on the cow itself,” said the artist.
Artists derive their inspiration from different sources and that changes from one artist to the other. While some find it in nature, some in relationships and others in everyday happenings, Kohli finds her inspiration embedded in the spiritual world. A lot of thought goes into her artworks and, therefore, they are one of a kind.
We asked her about her thoughts while she was working on the Yogini collections and she said the the sculptures are basically about the celebration of form that is constantly recreating itself. “You see, without energy, nothing on Earth can be created, neither can you negate the role of the feminine figure in any form of creation. The feminine becomes very predominant and hence I call them Yoginis, or those energies which are totally infused with each other and are well coordinated. Yoga means a coordination or amalgamation of two different forces. It’s about the yoga of the movement, which we talk about,” she elaborated.
On the other hand, herDasaavtar about (these two works are totally different) is about Vishnu and his incarnations. “These two bodies of works are completely different,” Kohli pointed out, “We believe that there were 10 different incarnations marking the evolution of mankind, according to the Vedas.”
She said that the series talks about every avtar of the God and also traces the evolution of mankind. “I have worked on every one of them. The works are small — about 10X10 inches — but they are very detailed,” she added.
Not just Gallery Art Positive but Galleries Nvya will also be displaying Kohli’s much talked about Golden Womb series. The series is quite close to the artist’s heart because to her, the womb represents the perfect half way house, between the material and the divine. “It’s where we let go of our cosmic consciousness and finally take on the human condition, forgetting where we came from and what it all means,” Kohli said.
The artist continued, “This is where I have spent nine months of my life. My mind was still unformed and my body still undecided. It was because I had more time that I started making my art an unfurling chronicle of a memory and the narrative of my journey.”