Sheila Makhijani
(1962)
What Were You Thinking
"Crawling on the paper was now becoming a regular phenomenon, this crawl now extended to the cloth. It continued and continued as far as it could go. Never knowing what it would look like till it was ready. Or, was it? Well, not really it was time to explore the corners it could turn in and the various folds it could take while folding and sleeping. Jumping on the wall, on the ceiling, on the floor, was not new. It only made one free to extend...
"Crawling on the paper was now becoming a regular phenomenon, this crawl now extended to the cloth. It continued and continued as far as it could go. Never knowing what it would look like till it was ready. Or, was it? Well, not really it was time to explore the corners it could turn in and the various folds it could take while folding and sleeping. Jumping on the wall, on the ceiling, on the floor, was not new. It only made one free to extend the space available and reach out to the skies."
Sheila Makhijani, an abstractionist par excellence, was born in 1962, in New Delhi. She was educated at the College of Art in New Delhi, and also received her Master's degree from the same institution. In 1993 she obtained a Diploma of Completion from Kanazawa Bijutsu Kogei Daigaku, in Kanazawa, Japan.
Makhijani's abstract works on paper display an intimate and intricate array of lines and colours. The restricted and seemingly controlled rendering of the cluster of frenzied lines is bathed in very light, almost disappearing, spreads of semi-transparent watercolours. This creates the idea of an alternate world to the one we live in. A place where the impish lines lead a life of their own, darting from one place to another, leaving and returning to the color as if it was their home and they the children who never listened. Sheila Makhijani seemed to have a similar conception of these lines when she painted then, remarking that, "They realize that maybe it is better to be a little tame and a little wild. With that they may reach a harmonious balance...and manage to create their own world. A world which has no boundaries barring them from going on the other side...a world which is full of happiness and joy...so they try, but, that is real hard so they try again and again and life goes on...maybe one day they will arrive somewhere...."
Sheila Makhijani's works have been frequently exhibited in Holland, India and Australia. In 2001, her works were shown at Gallery East in Perth Australia; in 1998 at RMIT Project Space, Melbourne and Perth and at Makerere Gallery in Uganda. Makhijani has exhibited her works in solo exhibitions at Gallery Foundation of Indian Artists in Holland in 1996 and also in 1992, 1994 and 2000 at Galerie School in Amsterdam, Holland. Makhijani's works have also been included in exhibitions at Kunsthal Rotterdam, Holland in 1993; Gemeente Museum, Arnhem, Holland in 1991; at Saline Royale d'Arc Et Senans, France in 1993.
The artist lives and works in New Delhi.
Read More
Other works of this artist in:
this auction
|
entire site
Lot
146
of
150
SUMMER ONLINE AUCTION
13-14 JUNE 2018
Estimate
Rs 10,00,000 - 15,00,000
$15,155 - 22,730
Winning Bid
Rs 12,00,672
$18,192
(Inclusive of Buyer's Premium)
ARTWORK DETAILS
Sheila Makhijani
What Were You Thinking
Signed twice, dated and inscribed 'Sheila Makhijani/ 2007/ "What were you thinking"' (on the reverse)
2007
Oil on canvas
70 x 79.75 in (177.7 x 202.5 cm)
PROVENANCE: An Important Private Collection, New Delhi
EXHIBITED: Is It: Solo by Sheila Makhijani, New Delhi: Anant Art Gallery, 2007
Category: Painting
Style: Abstract
ARTWORK SIZE:
Height of Figure: 6'