What the Eyes Can’t See

Seola’s current work in watercolour is a reinterpretation of transformation in life. She draws inspirations from changes in nature,such as the blossoming of a flower,ripening of a fruit or transforming of a caterpillar into a butterfly. “My ideas about life — the suggested and the nuanced — come from a philosophical space that embraces me from within,” says the 30-year-old Vadodara-based artist. “Transformation in nature is evident,but its physical presence misses the eye. I hope to capture this recycling of energy,” she says.

Before Seola’s art achieved a structure,when she was a student in South Korea’s Chonnam National University,she was keen to explore the area of experimental art practices. Unsure of the medium to channel her artistic energy into,she worked with oil-on-canvas,installation art,photography and video documentation. Her teachers,having themselves studied at Santiniketan,encouraged her to pursue contemporary art in India. “I imagined I would benefit from the rich environment,” says Seola.

The move to India in 2009 proved to be creatively stimulating. After a year at the Delhi College of Arts,she enrolled at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda for a Master of Visual Arts degree while also working at The Collective Studio — a contemporary space for young artists — under the tutelage of artists such as Rekha Rodwittiya and Surendran Nair. “I began taking objects — minute details of fabric on a chaise lounge or dried jasmines in a gajra — and painting them with focused precision. And those became the starting point for my recent works,” she says.