Alchemy of Process - Seema Kohli (3)_compressed E-Catalouge

The Alchemy of Process Journey of Seema Kohli in printmaking 1998 - 2020

Serigraphs Etching Drawings on Archival Paper

For a resourceful artist such as Seema Kohli, working in a single medium could never satiate such a

generous and restless creative spirit. In addition to dazzlingly detailed large-scaled paintings for which she is so well known, the legacy of her long career has been one of broad exploration and experimentation in both traditional and avant-garde mediums - diverse printmaking processes though performance and video. Seema’s work is inspired by and firmly grounded in her extensive knowledge of Indian spirituality, mythology and cosmology which is most often filtered through the lens of the sacred feminine.

An overarching theme in her work has been the regeneration of life which can be seen in extensive and evolving series, Golden Womb and Tree of Life. Her informed and intuitive knowledge of India’s detailed taxonomies of mythological, historical and living spirituality is distilled through diverse bodies of work which offer unique pathways through different processes and forms.

For a painter with a refined and meticulous control of her medium, printmaking has provided an opportunity for experimentation, chance and accident. As images emerge through multiple states there can be a keen sense of mystery and unpredictability. In some processes such as intaglio, the reversal of an image from plate to paper can be revelatory, akin to seeing a familiar image from a startling new vantage point.

While intaglio printmaking might seem to be the antipathy of the lush color palette characteristic of Seema’s paintings, it privileges a quality of line that underlies all of her work and is particularly reminiscent of earlier primarily linear work. Orchestrating a complex array of visual information through line and tone alone requires a strong command of value relationships grounded by shrewd composition and design. Two very different bodies of work illustrate this superbly. The series Unending Dance of Light share dense compositions and rich tonality. In Power Games, which unfolds at a panoramic scale of 20 x 40”, a woman in a yogic position rests one foot on the back of a small nude male in a vulnerable position facing away from her. The braid of her hair travels down her torso to her upturned foot, tracing the flow of energy in chakras of the subtle body. One arm reaches towards a small prone female figure floating amidst clouds who reaches back to her. Between these dual points of feminine energy lie what appear to be the physical or mental detritus of urban life - tanks, plumbing, spigots, spotlights and the quotidian concrete boxes typifying cityscapes that these two enlightened women appear to be liberated from.

Ratri / 21 x 32 / Serigraph on Archies Paper / 2017 (1/10)

Serigraphy is an exacting and labor-intensive medium requiring the layering and ordering of multiple

screens containing images and colors. Although producing serigraphs in a professional atelier has allowed for precise registration, Seema finds that working in her own studio allows her to take advantage of the vulnerability and surprise of error. In this case, imperfection offers more possibilities for creativity than perfection, as a slight misregistration between layers can create unexpected overlays and zips of color at the edges of forms. While in her paintings she arrives at one final work of art, through the serigraphic process each piece in an edition might be slightly different.

Seema’s exquisite version of the classic and exceedingly complex iconography of Viswaroopa is a tour de force of the serigraphic process. Here the cosmic Vishnu revealed to Arjuna in the Bhavagad Gita is envisioned as an undulating torrent of circles linked by lotus vines and wave forms of water and air. Each of the circles of various sizes holds one of Vishnu’s avatars along with Seema’s generously inclusive lexicon of imagery that includes yoginis, matrikas, ghandarvas, the Buddha, and even fragments of a city.

Standing before them all is Vishnu’s boar avatar Varaha holding aloft Vishnu Narayana who, massaged by his consort Lakshmi, dreams this marvelous world into existence. Two rows of lotuses, frame and ground the image which bounds this explosive divine creative energy. No less vibrant in color but quite different in temperament, is Rising of the Kundalini featuring a central meditating figure who holds within her both day and night. Floating on an ovoid of lotuses petals, she sits between the cosmos and the city, framed by a double border of lightness and weight - the buoyancy of ghandarvas and the heft of elephants.

As the process of serigraphy opens up different explorations of color, form, surface and process, many of Seema’s enduring themes take on new life. In series of prints created in 2020, The Golden Womb, a circle sits within a deep blue 20” square, a compositional strategy she employs in many of her works.

Here the circle can be seen as both exterior form and interior space - the shape or our world and the womb of life. Playful images curl up against and float beyond the circle’s circumference as women, demigods and cows tattooed with patterns of flora and fauna reflect flashes gold mingled with rainbows of color.

As in so much of Seema’s work created throughout her bountiful creative career, they rejoice in the cycle of life and the potentiality of regeneration. - Kathryn Myers The Golden Womb Series/ Serigraphs on Archies Paper / 19.5 x 19.5’’inches / 2020 (1 / 125)

Vishnu Vishwaroopa / 31 x 40 / Serigraph on Archies Paper / 2016 ( 1 / 125)

Rising of Kundalini / 31 x 40 / Serigraph on Archies Paper / 2016 ( 1 / 125)

Narshimi 2nd / 10 x 10 inches, Serigraphs on Archies Paper / 2015 / ( 1 / 10)

Narsimi 1st / 10 x 10 inches / Serigraphs on Archies Paper / 2015 / ( 1 / 10)

Yogini / Serigraph on Archies paper / 10 x 10 inches / 2015 / ( 1 / 10)

Untitled / 18 x 20 inches/ Serigraphs on Archies Paper / 2015 / ( 1 / 10)

Yogini / Serigraph on Archies paper / 18 x 20 inches / 2015 / ( 1 / 10) Shiva / Serigraph on Archies paper / 10 x 10 inches / 2015 / ( 1 / 10)

Untitled / 18 x 20 inches/ Serigraphs on Archies Paper / 2015 / ( 1 / 10)

Untitled / 18 x 20 inches/ Serigraphs on Archies Paper / 2015 / ( 1 / 10)

Untitled / 18 x 20 inches/ Serigraphs on Archies Paper / 2015 / ( 1 / 10)

Untitled / 31 x 40 inches/ Serigraphs on Archies Paper / 2017 (1 / 125)

Untitled / 31 x 40 inches/ Serigraphs on Archies Paper / 2017 (1 / 10)

Untitled / 21 x 32 inches/ Serigraphs on Archies Paper / 2015 (1 / 2)

Memoirs Print Grid / 24 x 24 inches / Zinc plate etching ( 1 / 10)

Memoirs zinc plate grid / 24 x 24 inches / Zinc plates

Memoirs zinc plate grid / 24 x 24 inches / Zinc plates

Chausat yogini / 10 x 4 feet / 2014 (1 / 10)

Mahavira/ Etching on Archeis Paper/ 48 x 120inches/ 2014 / ( 1 / 5)

Come play with me / Zinc plate etching print on fabriano paper/ 13 x 20.5 inches / 2014 (1 / 10)

Come play with me / Zinc plate etching print on fabriano paper/ 13 x 20.5 inches / 2014 / (1 / 10)

The Golden Womb Series / Zinc plate etching print on fabriano paper/ 11.5 x 9.5 inches / 2018 / (1 / 10)

Yogini VI / Zinc plate etching print on fabriano paper with 24 ct gold leaf and gold paint 18.5 x 19.5 cm / 2019 / ( 1 / 10)

Yogini I / Zinc plate etching print on fabriano paper with 24 ct gold leaf and gold paint 17 x 15 cm / 2019 / ( 1 / 10)

Yogini II / Zinc plate etching print on fabriano paper with 24 ct gold leaf and gold paint 15 x 17 cm / 2019 / ( 1 / 10) Yogini III / Zinc plate etching print on fabriano paper with 24 ct gold leaf and gold paint 17 x 15 cm / 2019 / ( 1 / 10)

Yogini IX / Zinc plate etching print on fabriano paper with 24 ct gold leaf and gold paint 27.5 x 34.5 cm / 2019 / ( 1 / 10)

Yogini IV / Zinc plate etching print on fabriano paper with 24 ct gold leaf and gold paint 20 x 19.5 cm / 2019 / ( 1 / 10)

Yogini V / Zinc plate etching print on fabriano paper with 24 ct gold leaf and gold paint 19.5 cm x 18.5 cm / 2019 / ( 1 / 10)

Yogini VII / Zinc plate etching print on fabriano paper with 24 ct gold leaf and gold paint 27.5 cm x 34.5 cm / 2019 / ( 1 / 10)

Yogini VIII / Zinc plate etching print on fabriano paper with 24 ct gold leaf and gold paint 27.5 cm x 34.5 cm / 2019 / ( 1 / 10)

Untilted Drawings on Archival Prints with Archival Ink and Gold Dust/ 24 x 36 inches / 2009

Untilted Drawings on Archival Prints with Archival Ink and Gold Dust/ 24 x 36 inches / 2009

Untilted Drawings on Archival Prints with Archival Ink and Gold Dust/ 36 x 48 inches / 2009

Untilted Drawings on Archival Prints with Archival Ink and Gold Dust/ 24 x 70 inches / 2009

Untilted Drawings on Archival Prints with Archival Ink and Gold Dust/ 36 x 48 inches / 2009

Untilted Drawings on Archival Prints with Archival Ink/ 36 x 48 inches / 2009

Do i need a body to fly... / Drawing on hand painted archival prints / 13 x 21 inches / 2013.

Sitting across-sena / Drawing on hand painted archival prints / 13 x 21 inches / 2013.

Everything has its journey‌everything is living... / Drawing on hand painted archival prints / 13 x 21 inches / 2013.

Veil... / Drawing on hand painted archival prints / 13 x 21 inches / 2013.

But i have strong wings‌ / Drawing on hand painted archival prints / 13 x 21 inches / 2013.

The woven web / Drawing on hand painted archival prints / 13 x 21 inches / 2013

For Seema and many artists, printmaking not only opens up diverse techniques and effects that expand and transform their work, but importantly allows for a more democratic distribution than is possible with a single painting or sculpture. Although trading the privacy of one’s studio to collaborate with a team of assistants in a professional atelier may transport an artist out of the zone of concentration of creativity that many require, it allows for valuable outside input and response in-process. New images are born from the unique possibilities of the printmaking process while familiar themes can be revisited and reinvented. For Seema, printmaking has contributed a crucial component to her continually rejuvenated creative harvest.

Kathryn Myers Professor of Art The University of Connecticut The Golden Womb Series/ Serigraphs on Archies Paper / 19.5 x 19.5’’inches / 2020 / (1 / 125)

Seema Kohli is multi-disciplinary artist, a poet, a dreamer thriving on imagination/ ideas/philosophies/

narratives/myths and recreating these as images or words. Kohli has had over 32 solo shows and she explores the themes of beauty, sensuality and spirituality expressed through her works based on the concept of Hiranayagarbha or The Golden Womb from which we have emerged, which is self-pervading, engulfs every single thing.

Decay, hybridization & transformation: Creating new identity; reshaping belongings; intimacy; a dialogue of matter and memory all constitute a visual language of her work. Her work is primarily a celebration of the female form and energy the source of the twin forces of creation and destruction.

“Time” “Kaal” as a factor, is central to her practice. She uses time as medium, which is extended, assembled and captured in all her media, be it Print making, painting, sculptures or installations. The aspects of continuity, repetition, vulnerability, duration, temporality, awareness, situation and public involvement are also inherent qualities that inform her art practice. Shakti, the divine cosmic energy manifest through female embodiment has been extensively explored, engaged with, re-narrativized and retold through Seema Kohli’s works.

Her works engage with a wide circuit of references from religious iconography, world mythology, philosophy and literature and working across different mediums - painting, sculpture and performance Kohli’s detailed artworks are specifically known for large format, which are a part of the collection of national heritage in various public spaces and offices. They can be seen as murals at the Supreme Court (new Delhi), Sardar Patel Bhawan(Patna) T3 Delhi International Airport, Mumbai International/Domestic Airport, the Defence Ministry(DRDO), Northern Railways Head Office, Tata Raisina Residency, Manipal University, ONGC, Tata Centre of Excellence, Park Hyatt-Chennai, Leela Hotel (New Delhi) Ritz Carlton (Bangalore) Melinda Bill Gates Foundation, Ritz Carlton-Bangalore, Lila Hotel-Delhi and Bangalore and many more. Her collaborations include a prestigious line of exclusive credit cards with her artworks with Kotak Bank.

Her works have been shown at the collateral events Kochi Biennale, Birth Rights Collective, Venice Biennale of Art/Architecture. At Arco, Art Basil, and at India Art Fair among many others. She has been invited by the TEDx, WIN Conference, NGMA and various universities in India and all over the world including UConn, Chico, Harvard and Davis. Her body of artworks are in collection with museums in India and abroad including LKA, Kerala Museum of Arts, Rubin(USA) and MOSA(Brussels).