“Despite people landing on the Moon, planning to grow plants on it or wanting to shift there, it does not cease to captivate one’s imagination,” laughs Seema Kohli.
We are speaking about her Moon Series presently on show at NGMA Bengaluru the place the Delhi-based artist is exhibiting her works at a present titled Kaal Netra – Sacred Matrices: Seema Kohli’s Living Mythic Universe. The present, with over 200 items created by Seema since 2004, includes all method of media from her multi-disciplinary practise and has been put collectively by Darshan Kumar YU, deputy curator, NGMA Bengaluru.
Seema says her fascination with the moon started in childhood, spurred by her curiosity in tales and her father’s observations of philosophy. “I am interested in the narrative and not the myth or spiritual or religious aspect alone. That is how folk tales come into being — when people make narratives their own.”
“I believe mythology is a way of interpretation. We don’t have words, so we create other ways of expression that make it easier for us to comprehend what happens all around us,” she says, including that even whereas fairly younger she was in a position to finest specific herself by means of photographs on paper.
Talking about the Moon Series, Seema says it depicts the moon’s waxing and waning and 28-day cycle, and is a throwback to considered one of her earlier works. “That piece was an installation. However, when I started working with thread, sequins and other embellishments on canvas, I wanted to work on this concept once more, because I felt it calling to me.”
Seema Kohli
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Once and once more
“Much like the waxing and waning of the moon, there is a balance which comes through the feminine in someway or the other. “The constants remain constant,” she says, referring to the recurring themes in her work.
“The idea of the feminine, the golden womb, the idea that we are all interconnected, and that creation is constantly happening is the overarching theme. The world might be going crazy just now, but Nature has its own cycle. It comes back to you, bashes you up and moves on.”
We transfer on to Storm in a Teacup, an artwork e-book of kinds, created out of etched prints. “I enjoy printmaking because it is an all-encompassing process that draws my attention to only one thing. You work on a plate, carry out its acid treatment, watch it take shape and then, do it all over again — creating another print that is similar, but with another iteration.”
Seema says she has been engaged on at the very least one sequence of prints yearly, a observe she started round 12 years in the past.
Storm in a Teacup by artist Seema Kohli
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Special Arrangement
“I’ve always wanted to create an artist book and work with etching, one of my favourite media,” she says, including that her entry for a good on artist books resulted in, ”an accordion e-book, which couldn’t solely stand as an artwork piece, but in addition be held in a single’s arms and loved,” which is an aberration as etched prints are normally framed and mounted.
On show are a few Chinese screens adorned with artwork on each side. Seema says, “All of my work is inspired by my influences or things that affected me during my formative years.” She goes on to add how she was deeply moved when she was about 12 and her father patiently defined the Chipko Movement.
“Even today, a treasure trove of memories magically open up when I see trees; I became a tree hugger as a child and it built an empathy within me. As an adult, you see how trees are a symbol of Nature, with parallels in the scriptures — the Bhagavad Gita, Buddha’s enlightenment was under the pipal tree, it is seen in Sufism and Christianity, too. In most of my work, trees have an important role to play and I’m driven by the idea of trees growing on their own, wild and free.”
Tongue in cheek
Perhaps the most eye-catching show at the present is an set up of many-coloured tongues.
From Kaal Netra by artist Seema Kohli
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
“For me, the tongue is a space of taste, it doesn’t have to do with food alone; even when we are listening to good music or enjoy the beauty of a flower, there is a sense of rasa in our mouth. The tongue is the most sensitive part of our body without which we cannot complete the idea of the five senses.”
Seema elaborates, “All manner of temptations stem from the tongue. We speak with it, use it to praise or incite action, it is used to articulate our imaginations. Every desire is based on the tongue and I have tried to depict it as symbol of desire with this installation.”
She goes on to clarify, “As long as there is temptation or a desire to live, one will live. There has to be something that keeps you excited about life. Ambition is a desire, as is the wish to give up everything. There are many temptations, and there always will be.”
Kaal Netra by Seema Kohli is presently on show at the National Gallery of Modern Art.
Published – October 08, 2025 06:39 pm IST
