Artist, Nilima Sheikh: The sky bears witness. Does it offer redemption even if it is fractured?
The series was created for this exhibition. When I saw the diagram of the space, I saw that there is a very high ceiling. My imagination was drawn towards the possibilities therein.
The work is titled Shahid/Witness, and it is, in some sense, an ode to the skies, which has the privilege of being witness to all the good and bad things that are happening. Because the terrestrial world is ravaged by war, conflict, and natural calamities.
The scrolls invite you to look upwards. There is more intensity and detail to the bottom of the scroll. As your glance moves up, images are allowed space to interchange. And then there is another kind of visibility that is offered.
Angels, spirits, and even demons inhabit the skies in all kinds of historical art traditions. They may guard, or at least cast the shelter of their wings for comfort. They weep, threaten, or make menace, even wail and protest.
The sky is the place from where we can see the world destroying itself, metaphorically. And if there is a space for redemption, it is there.