What A Body Remembers

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Born in 1960, for Seema, her art is a philosophical engagement with the enquiry of life. She is one of the celebrated Indian women artists who have through the visual language of art tried to grasp the metaphysical truth of existence and the cosmic energy that is responsible for all creation. Her creative repertoire is eclectic and covers various mediums in the creative cosmos – encompassing graphics, ceramics, murals, installations, sculptures, printmaking and the performing arts. In her 35 years of creative journey her work has redefined the basic contours of figurative art in India. A visual storyteller, she weaves stories that are not autobiographical but deeply personal, showcased over 30 solo shows all over the world in Venice, Basel, Brussels, Melbourne, London, NY, Dubai, Singapore, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore and many mor In the new body of works at Tao Art Gallery titled, 'What A Body Remembers,' Seema remains committed to the idea of feminine energies but has a self-reflexive turn and ask what relationship is established with her works. She presents 35 zinc plate etchings on paper titled Memoirs. These are a collection of works done over a period of several years. Her memories while growing up, the images, objects, environment and people which influenced her. The current exhibition traverses some of the most significant cusps of Seema’s journey, of which Hiranyagarbha (The Golden Womb) set her off on a journey where she moved away from flawed, limiting labels of feminism (in its Western construct as being obstructionist) to declare the universe as female, the womb of all creation, the seed of birth, the dot into which everything converges. But even more that these contextual subtexts is Seema’s use of mediums that here includes her luminescent acrylics on canvas with gold leaf that leaves them glowing – a technique one associates with her. But here too the delightful twist, for the exhibition includes her drawings and works on paper, those building blocks of an artist’s work that we are rarely shown, but which reveal not such drafting skills and the way the eye moves, the fingers capture, but also the heart and soul of a painter’s universe. Seema's sculptural painting Kamadhenu in fiberglass set her thinking as she worked on the concept of gender in realm of pure consciousness. Is gender the outer garb or the packaging? This work has been inspired by the Indian mythological form of Aradhnareshwar-Shiva and Shakti. Its is representational of amalgamation of pure consciousness and energy.In the sculptural painting the hump is of the bull and the udders of a cow. Every being is an amalgamation of both yin and yang, positive and negative, man and woman. Hence it crosses all genders and there is no conflict of gender here as it crosses all barriers.The canvases are based on the heightened state of life, which we are all aspiring for. The birds, angles, gandharvas or simply our breath that becomes air as soon it breaks away from the physical forms. Her colours are reflective of the inner peace and joy, vibrating with the rhythm and joy of life.