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Lot Essay
Nilima Sheikh studied history at Delhi University before going on to study Fine Art at M.S. University in Baroda. History has continued to feature as an important aspect of her work and her large scrolls, paintings and screens deal with issues of feminity and communal violence and suffering. 'Going Away', from the exhibition, 'Each Night Put Kashmir in Your Dreams', is part of a series that addresses Sheikh's concerns with the violence in Kashmir, state brutality and the trauma faced by the local community. Engaged with the subject since 2000, in this exhibition Sheikh recalls the violent history of Kashmir to make up a set of nine scrolls collectively termed by the artist 'after Emperor Jahangir's famous exclamation about Kashmir being Paradise on earth, her Firdaus series of works'.
Writing on an earlier series of scrolls by Sheikh also referencing Kashmir, Chaitanya Sambrani notes, "Kashmir is an unearthly paradise, aflame, a shimmering fabric rent asunder. For the artist, the sheer beauty of Kashmir necessitates a response beyond the banality of Bollywood; hers takes the form in a series of hanging scrolls made specifically for this exhibition. Making references to several centuries of writings inspired by Kashmir, Sheikh seems to merge the poetic with the political in a deeply felt and fluidly articulated response to a contemporary tragedy. Incorporating references to the writings of ancient scribes (Kalahana and Fa Hian) as well as modern poets and novelists (Agha Shahid Ali and Salman Rushdie) she paints a relationship to Kashmir as an extended meditation on desire and loss." (C. Sambrani, Edge of Desire: Recent Art in India, London, 2005, p. 17)
Stylistically, Sheikh has always been interested in traditional art forms such as Rajasthani, Pahari and Mughal miniatures,and received a number of Government Fellowships in the 1980s to study Indian traditional paintings, in particular the Pichhvais of Nathdwara. These interests are reflected in her paintings and vertical landscapes with her use of delicate line and choice of colour. More recently, the artist has also included stencils which are specially crafted by traditional artisans in the area of Mathura.
Writing on an earlier series of scrolls by Sheikh also referencing Kashmir, Chaitanya Sambrani notes, "Kashmir is an unearthly paradise, aflame, a shimmering fabric rent asunder. For the artist, the sheer beauty of Kashmir necessitates a response beyond the banality of Bollywood; hers takes the form in a series of hanging scrolls made specifically for this exhibition. Making references to several centuries of writings inspired by Kashmir, Sheikh seems to merge the poetic with the political in a deeply felt and fluidly articulated response to a contemporary tragedy. Incorporating references to the writings of ancient scribes (Kalahana and Fa Hian) as well as modern poets and novelists (Agha Shahid Ali and Salman Rushdie) she paints a relationship to Kashmir as an extended meditation on desire and loss." (C. Sambrani, Edge of Desire: Recent Art in India, London, 2005, p. 17)
Stylistically, Sheikh has always been interested in traditional art forms such as Rajasthani, Pahari and Mughal miniatures,and received a number of Government Fellowships in the 1980s to study Indian traditional paintings, in particular the Pichhvais of Nathdwara. These interests are reflected in her paintings and vertical landscapes with her use of delicate line and choice of colour. More recently, the artist has also included stencils which are specially crafted by traditional artisans in the area of Mathura.