So Be It
Solo show by Kisalay Vora
Presenting a solo exhibition by Kisalay Vora, a multi-disciplinary artist who has accumulated a strong body of work through many years of self-exploration and experimentation. Beginning with technique driven work that was obvious in its craftsmanship, it took him years to come to a point of pure surrender to his intuition. An act of courage for any artist. Today Vora finds himself in a space of deeper acknowledgement and peace with his art, depicting themes that are fluid and honest to his mature perspective. This show brings together some universal and fundamental concepts that have stayed with him through his evolution. It consists of a variety of works of mixed media but remains minimal in the overarching essence communicated. Standing today, as he is, at the point of hindsight, Vora has identified 6 series that he believes are his most powerful:
1. From the Reservoir of Subliminal Occurrings
2. My Cortisols Are Your Endorphins
3. Second Chance
4. Soliloquy
5. The Mysterious Strength Of Anthropomorphism
6. Choodiyaan
Despite the show covering such a large range of practice, it has, tied at its core, the curiosity of the artist not only about the external world he works in but also the internal world that works upon him. He is aware of the simultaneous influence of these two worlds especially on our relationships. This awareness makes it natural for him to connect with others. In his words, “I’ve always been drawn to people. I could be watching a party going on from a distance, a gathering of silhouettes in a lighted window across a river. Or then again, I could be involved in a more personal, immediate way. Their energy, their celebrations are a source of endless inspiration and joy for me. And this joy is something I actively chase in my life. Sooner or later, the people I meet and interact with, become a part of my canvas.”
He keenly observes the tendencies, beliefs and traditions of people and then goes on to inquire about the roots of these thought processes. However, while he is thoroughly engaged in these social connections and the intellectual stimulation it provides, the final resulting work is meant to be experienced in a state of ‘no-mind’, mimicking his own state whilst in the process of creation. Keeping to the idea of instinct, the artist wishes to attach no strands of thought to his art, often keeping it untitled and unexplained and making space for the viewer’s subjective experience. This collecting and de-constructing of social information is what makes his art truly reflective.
In terms of technique, Vora explores multiple mediums and even innovates new ones that fit his vision of storytelling. He builds a bridge at the intersection of installation, sculpture, painting - all art forms that have conventionally been treated as different from one another. Using material that is observed every day but rarely thought of as relevant beyond its functionality such as the repeated pin and thread and paper scrap on his canvases, he questions the idea of labels. In this way he aims to revive those neglected items that have always surrounded the artist in his studio. There is a subtle energetic connect even with the inanimate, which Vora believes still contains the human spirit through association. In this manner, a deep spirituality underlies every endeavour he undertakes.
The title of the show reflects this simplicity he has found in his being, and he elaborates, “my works are a response to what I experience while travelling to my studio and back. Sometimes I introspect, reflect, enquire or document my experiences on this journey. In order to communicate those feelings to the optimum with my viewers, I use various styles, techniques, mediums and materials. This practice eventually converts into multiple cohesive series giving precedence to one over another and sometimes overlapping perspectives.” It seems despite the miles he has covered in his art practice, the artist is less concerned about any superficial destination to arrive at, and remains satisfied with the beautiful journey.
Sanjana Shah
(Friday, April 5 - Wednesday, May 1)
When the Moon is Nine Months Full
Solo show by Seema Kohli
Incessant turning of hands. Feverish flurry of numbers. Where do we enter stillness?
Drawing from a deep practice of ongoing embodied research, renowned artist Seema Kohli foregrounds questions of time, labour, and movement in this new body of work. Deconstructing the hierarchy of the clock, the artist calls on us to lean in and imbibe the subliminal rhythms of our planet. The beating of hearts, phases of the moon, cycles of menstruation, flow of seasons sing forth from her vivid visions. These tellurian pulses foster connections between our bodies and the energies that move alongside, an antidote to the isolation of modern life. Adorned with mountains, stars, and trees, Kolhi's figures wear their interdependence as the full moon's light, a badge of love, of a kinship across species and materialities.
Wrapped up in Yourself, You hid from me.
All day i looked for You
and when i found You hiding inside me,
I ran wild, playing now me, now You. — Lal Dĕd
Whirling in the syncretic teachings of Kashmiri mystic Lal Dĕd, Kohli is both disciple—in her own eyes—and beacon for us. In a pièce de résistance, she offers insight into Lal Arif's moment of ascension, occupying an unruly human body while communing with the unbound cosmos. It is this precious non-dual concurrency of Saivite and Sufi, corporeal and cosmic, multiple and whole, sea and seed that her works offer, so as to heal our fractured time.
The artist celebrates the labour of birthing, care, repair, resistance, and boycott undertaken by women for centuries, visualizing the adjacency between feminine and forest, of bodies relegated to reproduction, unrewarded and unrecognized under the regime of material productivity. In a poignant series, Kohli pays homage to this reciprocity through the trailblazing women of the Chipko movement (Gharwal Hills, 1970 onwards) deeply imprinted in her memory from when she was a child.
Turning her gaze towards the underbelly of gender and recognizing the shadow side of mythological representation, the artist leaps into new territory, birthing what Ursula Le Guin has termed,"her third self". Across the elements—wood, bronze, canvas—eagles and swans with wings outstretched accompany her flight, channeling courage and introspection respectively. In deftly conjoining her lineage of spiritual eco-feminism with a renewed hunger for equitable worlds, Seema Kolhi marks herself as a force that can neither be contained nor forgotten.
Shaunak Mahbubani
(Thursday, January 11 - Sunday, February 11)
Alive, Aflow
Solo show by Isha Pimpalkhare
'ALIVE, AFLOW', comes together to form Isha Pimpalkhare’s first solo exhibit. With a mix of 2D and 3D works and textile as the primary medium, it showcases the various aspects of her thought, process and practice.
“My work has always been closely connected to understanding what it is that makes our natural surroundings ‘alive’; our innate tendency to seek connections with nature and other forms of life, thus capturing this lifelike and visceral emotion onto a more tactile and physical medium”, says Pimpalkhare.
Using the textile medium to create delicate and fragile installations she brings this experience to her audience, encouraging a deeper emotional engagement. Pimpalkhare attempts to highlight Biophilia (a love of the living), through breathing, movement, transformation and reciprocity, as some of the fundamentals of ‘being alive’. This drives home an important idea of the impact of our environments on our mental well-being and the role of sensory awareness in our daily lives.
As a mixed media artist, she situates her practice at the convergence of art and design. While channelling these sensorial experiences onto fabric, a large part of her process also involves exploring the medium and the technique itself, while testing its limits, and discovering new aesthetics. There is a constant sense of movement in her art, an evolution that occurs both at the beginning and in the final product as it is placed, alive in its energy and intent, within the gallery space.
In Pimpalkhare’s words, “Being formally trained in textiles, and having always closely worked with the medium, the idea of a ‘maker’ deeply resonates with my practice. The very act of making helps me find a sense of higher purpose and fulfilment - a flow, which also attempts to find its way on to the textile.”
Sanjana Shah
(Friday, December 15 - Friday, January 5)