Kota Neelima is an artist and an author who explores the Indian philosophical thought through her art and books. She has a Doctorate from University of Delhi, and is an alumnus of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and SAIS, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC. Neelima’s works are influenced by the traditions of skepticism in Indian thought, and interrogate the concepts of creation, causation and karma, as paths of reconciliation. Drawing from her study of the Upanishads, and her own understanding of contemporary India as an author about poverty and spirituality, Neelima’s works are part of public and private spaces in India and other countries, including the Museum of Sacred Art in Belgium. (More at www.kotaneelima.com)
The 2018 collection of painting and prints by the artist, The Manifest Absence, is inspired by the Upanishadic truth beyond the Manifest world. This truth represents Nirguna or the absence of qualities, Nirakara or the absence of form, Nirbhedha, or the absence of discrimination, Niskama or the absence of desire, Nirviseha or the absence of attributes and Nirantara or the absence of interruption. The Absence is never inert but is textured with all that which could have been and all that which still can be. The Absence is, also, never the opposite of the Presence, in the same way as the half Moon is not half, but always complete. The Absence is the Unmanifest; it is the original state of the Creation and the mind recognises that. The Manifest Absence is the 8th solo exhibition of the artist, who is based in New Delhi, India.