The Other Self - Seema Kohli by Seema Kohli

THE oTHEr SELF seema kohli

The Other Self “If you begin to understand what you are without trying to change it, then what you are undergoes a transformation” – J Krishnamurti There is an indolent tendency to view Seema Kohli’s aesthetic as decorative more than subliminal. But to do that would be erroneous. For Seema’s thinking is more deeply rooted in current concerns than one might expect, central to which is her quest – personal as well as universal – for freedom. It rises from her belief that the mind, like all things that nature has created, is free. Nor is she unique in this belief, echoes of which have existed among iconoclasts for millennia. The human body might be shackled by laws that govern our universe, but the mind remains inviolate, capable of its own revolutions, its own retreats The clues stare you in your face. There is the stirring of air among the branches of trees; and water splattering past any resistance with a happy splash; there is the warming sun and the cool blue of the moon, and they all exist in an organised structure that is outside fettered geographies and histories, the petty machinations of mankind and the growing tendency to erect barriers where none existed. This spirit is best represented in the wings of her beings – women, mostly, but also men – that soar through unseen currents, following their own rhythm, their own chosen path. Freedom she might seek, but Seema’s inner and outer worlds make a strong case for unity. Like the Buddhist icons, symbols of well being surround her figures. The tree is her great unifier, its sheltering orb a harbouring place for her wood nymphs and fairies. Under such a tree, with its towering branches and buried roots, the Buddha found enlightenment. It was under such trees that the ancient sages meditated, that poets and philosophers gathered, that animals rested. A tree gives but does not take; it sustains but does not dispossess; it unites but does not divide. The kindred spirits of mankind and nature, of man and woman, of sky and earth, of celestial bodies and beings, might appear at first escapist, but Seema roots them in the present ethos and environment. Wisdom that is ancient is still wisdom and it has a universality that escapes the barriers of time: so it is that she researches her myths and legends with a relevance that finds an echo in the present. It is these that strive for balance in a rapidly developing world where collated knowledge is under threat, where the premise and need for harmony is itself under siege. As mankind sows the seeds of destruction in an increasingly fragile – even hostile – environment, it is worth asking: Have we come to the end of our civilisation? It is of such profound belief that Seema’s clairvoyance is possessed. Faced with the spectre of annihilation, her art is a reminder that it is not too late to steer the wheel of time towards a world cast in grace and beauty. If humankind does not heed the surging tide of animosity and destruction, then all we might be left with are regret and nostalgia. Hopefully, that turn will not come, and Seema’s reflecting glass will continue to show us not a world lost but a world rendered perfect by our other self. Kishore Singh Writer, Curator, Friend 2015

CANVAS

“There is a god part in you. The consciousness. The pure self. Learn to listen the voice of that power” – Amit Ray Seema Kohli’s choice of the Bhagwad Gita as a subject is entirely natural, given her inclination towards spirituality, Sufism and universal harmony. The Gita, of course, does not rule out conflict, but it does so for its eventual realisation of a destiny foretold. Its nuanced telling is based on the restoration of order and congruence. As these paintings exemplify, Seema’s quest to unify the celestial and the terrestrial coalesce in the figure of a woman, while Vishnu roils the skies in his chariot of serpents. This depiction of righteousness is essentially a manifestation of one’s self with the other self, a discourse on that which is wrong and right, unjust and just, and the consequence of exemplary morality for which some sleight might, in fact, be justified. It is this dialogue with morality that forms the bedrock of the epic and the subject of not just this but the majority of Seema’s work.

Bhagwatgeeta Series