Posted on 28 January 2026:
What Remains Awake: Sonika Agarwal’s Journey Through Consciousness at Bikaner House
What Remains Awake: Dream, Depth, and the Fourth – a solo exhibition by renowned Sonika Agarwal that invites audiences into a profound exploration of consciousness.
Rooted in the ancient Indic framework of awareness—Jagrat (waking), Swapna (dream), Sushupti (deep sleep), and Turiya (the transcendent fourth)—Sonika Agarwal’s practice transcends illustration, instead unfolding through abstraction, colour and immersive spatial presence.
Working across painting, sculpture and installation, Sonika Agarwal dissolves the boundaries of the canvas, transforming painting into a living, breathing field. Colour becomes a vessel of consciousness—responsive to light, time, and perception—shifting between intensity, withdrawal, and quiet luminosity. Her works demand sustained looking, slowing the viewer’s gaze in contrast to the accelerated visual culture of the present moment.
Curated under the guidance of Myna Mukherjee, the exhibition situates Sonika Agarwal’s practice within a larger inquiry into perception, interiority and non-Western philosophical thought. Here, abstraction functions not as spectacle but as a contemplative language—resisting distraction and privileging inward attention. The exhibition becomes a meditative space, where art is less about representation and more about resonance, inviting viewers to dwell in the subtle thresholds of awareness.
Several sculptural installations expand the conceptual terrain of What Remains Awake: Dream, Depth, and the Fourth, each work opening a distinct portal into the psyche. Vasana: The Architecture of Desire gives physical form to the latent impressions of longing, tracing the subtle architecture of human yearning. In contrast, Dominance over the Silence of Ahimsa stages a charged predator–prey encounter, reflecting on power, vulnerability, and ethical responsibility. Other works glow softly in darkness, evoking the dream state where memory, emotion, and intuition rise beyond rational control, immersing the viewer in thresholds of awareness that resist easy articulation.
A self-taught artist with over seventeen years of practice, Sonika Agarwal has exhibited widely across India and internationally. Her dedication to abstraction and philosophical inquiry has earned her the prestigious National Stree Shakti Award, conferred by the President of India. Recently, a selection of her works was acquired by the Museum of Sacred Arts (MoSA), Belgium, marking a significant moment of international recognition and affirming her place within the global discourse on contemporary art.
The exhibition unfolds at Kalamkar Gallery, Bikaner House from 30 January to 10 February 2026.
