Nature is an ever-present force—inevitable and deeply influential. It leaves its mark on everything it touches like those who draw inspiration from its forms, moods, and mysteries. 'Imprints', an exhibition currently on view at Delhi’s Kunzum, brings together 12 artists exploring nature through diverse mediums and personal expressions.
Curated by artists Kirti Aggarwal and Nikita Sharma, founders of the art group Kaladhara, in collaboration with NGO Shuddhi, the exhibition aims to reframe our relationship with nature. “In today’s digitised world, we reach for our phones to capture a sunset landscape,” says Sharma. “But earlier, that immediacy didn’t exist. We wanted to explore nature beyond just photographs—through forms like painting, photography, and digital art.”
The exhibition showcases a wide variety of mediums and approaches. Dr Meenakshi Singhal’s acrylic paintings feature radiant sunflowers placed centrally against dreamy landscape backdrops—sometimes with elements like boats, creating a surreal, symbolic interplay. In contrast, Prathivisree’s ‘Last Light on the Ridge’, a bold canvas, captures the mountains in shades of bright oranges and warm browns, conveying movement and intensity.
Nature photography by Soumick Nag also finds space in the show, alongside intricate digital compositions by Khushboo Gupta, offering a contemporary take on organic forms through the lens of technology.
One can also see works rethinking sustainability like artist Alka Mathur’s ‘Morning Walks’, an ongoing series since 2023, created on used tea bags—her signature surface. “Teabags have been a part of my art practice for almost 25 years,” Mathur shares, tracing the origin of this medium to art during her 2006 residency in Santa Fe. Inspired by everyday moments from her morning walks in a neighbourhood biodiversity park—such as butterflies, ladybugs, leaves, and cocoons—her delicate compositions blend pen, ink, coloured pencils, and stitching. “They became like journal entries—capturing a moment from my walk. It’s intimate and meditative,” she adds.
A similar contemplative tone runs through Shivani D’s watercolour-gouache series ‘The Ground Beneath Her Knows’, where butterfly wings subtly extend from a woman’s feet, merging body and earth in a poetic gesture. Deepti Ahluwalia Sinha’s ‘The Bend in the Path’ depicts a familiar countryside trail through textured brush strokes, sparking collective memory and nostalgia.
Gauri Sharma’s serene watercolour landscapes also reflect this intimacy with nature. Her works, like ‘Into the Mist’, depict pine trees, mountains, and birds—subjects drawn from her daily observations and travels. “In watercolour, I mostly do nature—landscapes, leaves. It calms me,” she says. “We’re so disconnected from nature now. I try to bring a little part of it into the home. You learn a lot just by sitting and observing.”
The exhibition also embraces lesser-seen mediums, like quilling—an art where paper strips are rolled and shaped into patterns. Garima Rastogi’s ‘Moon Memoir’ and ‘Rosette Rhapsody’ showcase floral and moon-inspired designs made entirely with coloured paper strips. “It’s very therapeutic,” she explains. “In the beginning, it can be irritating. But once you get into the habit of working with your fingers, it becomes a meditative activity. I started this as a hobby, helping my son with an art project. Now it’s my profession.”
While much of 'Imprints' focuses on external landscapes, Ravi Bisht’s acrylic and ink work turns inward. His portraits—’Emerge’ and ‘Behind the Bloom’—explore the connection between human emotion and nature. Featuring faces layered with vines and flowers, his acrylic and ink pieces reflect psychological complexity. “My work is inspired by dream sequences,” Bisht says. “I use faces to express emotion—and nature as both mirror and escape. It’s not just universal—it’s personal.”
At Kunzum Bookstore, M Block Market, Greater Kailash II, until July 13, open from 11 am