The Open Studio / Nikita Dhali
Nikita Dhali
Divine Eyes
An eye made of unbroken spirals, watching from a wall of stones
Red stones crowd the paper. Each one turns slowly inward.
Between them, grey lines coil like smoke that will not leave.
Six pale blue pebbles keep watch around a wide open lid.
The iris is a half sun, rising or setting in sky blue.
Look long and the whole sheet starts to breathe.
Every line goes round and round and never lets go.
The work
Nikita Dhali is a Master's student at The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in Vadodara. Dhali grew up in a small town where no one knew there was a subject called painting. Dhali first studied CS and B.Com. After a Bachelor's in Painting, Dhali begins to draw circles without a break in the line. These become spirals. In Divine Eyes, every shape is built from them. A large eye sits at the centre. Dhali calls the spirals "my breath, my sadhana."
In the artist’s words
“After I completed my Bachelor's in Painting, I asked myself, "Now what should I paint?" There were no rules and no guidance. I started creating patterns. I felt like making a circle without any break in the line. That is how spirals happened to me. They really chose me. It became my breath, my sadhana.”
- Theme
- Spirals as daily devotion
- Material
- Watercolour and acrylic on watercolour sheet
- Size
- 59 × 42 × 2 cm
- Year
- 2025
- Edition
- 1
- Framed
- No
- About the artist
- The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
- From
- vadodra
- Code
- RC-480
