Grounded: Soghra Khurasani

TARQ is pleased to present Grounded, a solo exhibition by Soghra Khurasani. The new body of prints mark a transformative phase in her life, building on her ongoing reflections on the relationship between the self and nature. This series is a meditation on the interconnectedness of all living things, underscoring the idea that, despite the inequalities and greed that may divide us, the Earth remains our shared home, and we are grounded to it, to remain.

Khurasani’s signature woodcut prints feature striking lines and strokes applied at varying frequencies, creating an aesthetic coherence rooted in emotion. The works reflect the time she has spent in her home and studio in the tranquil outskirts of Vadodara, offering subtle details of nature—wild shrubs, uprooted fields, and fresh green grass. In Grounded (to remain) 1, for instance, she depicts a common agricultural plant used to mark boundaries, which, in its dry withered state, holds a quiet beauty. Khurasani often finds herself reflecting on the cycle of life as she watches the seasonal tilling of land, the distribution of seeds, and the growth of crops.

The series Pristine shifts inward, offering more intuitive and imagined compositions. A first in Khurasani’s oeuvre, these smaller, intimate, colour worlds invite viewers into the artist’s memories and feelings. In Pristine 3, the artist reflects on the illusion of the colour blue—how it appears in the sky and water, changing across different geographies, yet is ultimately colourless. She visualizes this concept by blending the sky and water into a seamless, merging form. Through these prints, Khurasani ponders on the distance between one’s inner emotional world and how little we may understand of another’s experience. In these works, there is a logic not just to how the colours coalesce but also to how her lines iterate and build, repeat and layer.

The quality of lines is hardly the only arresting feature at play within Khurasani’s works. The Fertile series of etching prints manoeuvre in forest greens and hay-yellows to charged reds and deep blues. Each represent a distinct experience: crossing a rice field with her daughter on their way to school, the shared experience of motherhood, and the forms within the human body. In Khurasani’s words, “I love and enjoy the neighbourhood agriculture fields… [they] remind me of the process of life. How as humans, do we grow? We face things and we understand and react to them differently, we learn to grow in every phase of life and keep with us what we impart to the next generation.”

Through each impression, layers of skin, flesh, and earth blur together in intricate patterns through a sensitive interplay of texture and form. These elements, which might appear as simple landscapes, are presented as fragile, unsettled bodies in the process of healing and regeneration. They mirror the cycles of life that define the human experience. In these works, Khurasani reveals the delicate flow of emotions where the lost lines, and unsettled imprints create a deep sense of stillness and the uncertainty of life’s constant transformation.

The accompanying exhibition catalogue features an essay written by Deeksha Nath, an independent curator and critic.