Sculpting thoughts

Sangeet Natak Akademi is hosting a show titled Yoga Chakra: Tradition and Modernity by Seema Kohli’s iconography and philosophy of the Yogini cult that inspires her work and life, with constant references to the various form of yoginis and <g data-gr-id="18">matrikas</g> in her paintings.

 It will be showcased in an art exhibition and multimedia project with evocative metal sculptures, video performances, tea stains inks and watercolour on <g data-gr-id="20">arche’s</g> paper. The show will commence on June 21 and will be on till June 28.  Kohli who received the prestigious Gold Award at the Florence Biennale for her video installation, Swayamsiddha — Myth, Mind and Movement, says: “It is both the iconography as well as the philosophy of the Yogini cult that inspires my work and my life. There are constant references to the various forms of yoginis and <g data-gr-id="21">matrikas</g> in my paintings. The idea of yoginis becomes <g data-gr-id="24">very fascinating</g> in today’s Kalyuga because yogini is not simply a thought and neither is her message or a sermon.” 

She further adds: “She is experimenting on herself through kriya and yoga through which she enters our blood, vein, bones and our soul. She comes down to subliminal levels and starts her own journey, her <g data-gr-id="17">khel</g> — her play with herself which takes us to new mystical heights. 

My work I believe then becomes an exploration into these realms of the self and the relationship of the self with the larger cosmos that <g data-gr-id="31">seeks</g> an identity, symbol and meaning.