A dot. A dash. And a seed.

Like a weaver weaving warp and weft. It's repetitive. Meditative. Mystic.

By Sarita Chouhan

Note on my recent art works: My art practice is meditative mark-making involving the act of repetition; drawing dots, dashes, repeatedly. Like a weaver weaving warp and weft, and the threads of the loom give shape to a fabric. 

I create surface painting layers of paint and make marks with dots and dashes. My work is inspired by textiles, Kabir’s philosophy of oneness and other mystic traditions. The dots painted in a row are like beads in a garland, each different but yet similar, all merging, blending and creating a fabric of oneness, of shared humanity, of belonging to one Universe.

A ‘dot’ or a ‘seed’ is the origin of creation, and I have been working with both motifs. The seed or a dot is potent with energy, with possibilities. My art practice is meditation on this universal energy, consciousness and a reflective practice of search within.

Each mark here is painted with a brush with the intention of creating identical marks. Yet, each mark drawn with hand is distinct with its subtleness, and in its own distinct identity lies its beauty. The act of painting repetitive marks with hands needs alignment with the self, mapping of breath and time. It is choosing to slow down and pause, reflecting and being in flow.

It is the slow process of being immersed, mindful of each mark created, somewhere emerging from the in-between space of the conscious and the subconscious, planned and intuitive.

 While drawing dots and dashes, I could feel the sense of infinity, as if it was all merging in space. Drawn from one corner to the other, in rows, they are repeatedly drawn as if chanting the same syllable.

Indeed, it opens up and creates a feeling of an infinite space.

Details of works/ images:

Untitled, 91 x 91 cm, acrylic on canvas, 2005

Untitled, 121 x 91 cm, acrylic on canvas, 2005

Untitled (yellow 1), 91 x91 cm, acrylic on canvas, 2024

Untitled (gold), 121 x 91 cm, acrylic on canvas, 2025

Set of seed works, each 19.5 x 14 cm, thread and incision on paper, 2017

In front of seed set at group exhibition curated by Jasmine Verma at Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai

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Sarita Chouhan is a multi-disciplinary artist, working in various mediums; her art practice is primarily drawing-based, concentrating on her explorations of line, form and formlessness, she has exhibited her works in solo and group exhibitions. She has exhibited in a group show ‘Dots for a Pause’ at Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, curated by Jasmine Verma in 2025. Her video ‘Reverie of Lines’ was part of the Art Festival at Ogden, Utah (2022), her sketch book and drawings were exhibited at ‘Cognitive Ignorance’ -- a project by Mithu Sen and FICA, at India Art Fair, 2021. She has exhibited videos, photographs and drawings curated by Sandra Khare at Chemould Prescott in a show titled, ‘drawings’.

She has participated in Artist and Poet Residency, in Uzbekistan and What About Art (WAA) residency in Mumbai (2019), and Art Atelier Residency, Goa (2013). Her collaborative project ‘Dancing with Lines’ with French butoh dancer ‘Lucie Betz’ involved exploration of lines and body movement. Sarita has been an active member of the International Drawing Research Forum and Community: ‘Thinking through Drawing’.  

She has taken art workshops in schools, colleges, NGOs including Karuna-Ankur, a rehabilitation of minor girls rescued as sex workers. She conducted nature inspired workshops during the pandemic with children from all backgrounds. She started ‘Drawing Connect’ in 2023 and facilitates drawing and mindfulness workshops. She is presently a visiting faculty at Balwant Seth School of Architecture. She lives and works from Mumbai.