Artist Who Makes Oceans Bloom in Forests!

What if a forest floor could mirror a coral reef, seaweed rise like ribbons and jellyfish drift through a landscape far removed from the ocean? In Goa-based visual artist Svabhu Kohli’s world, such encounters are not anomalies but invitations to look at nature differently. Rather than treating the two environments as distinct, they bring their forms into dialogue, allowing one world to echo the other. The resulting compositions are layered, whimsical and full of small discoveries!

Their latest installation brings forests and oceans together in an imagined landscape, where handmade flora and fauna intertwine and familiar boundaries dissolve. Spanning four window displays, it unfolds as a series of portals into a shared ecosystem. Sculptural forms and hand-painted details reveal the intricate connections between land and sea.

For Kohli, whose practice moves between illustrations, sculpture, textiles, film and immersive installations, the natural world has never been separate from storytelling. “My practice is rooted in a lifelong fascination with stories, the natural world and the extraordinary that exists within the everyday,” they share. “I often return to themes of interconnectedness, belonging, memory and the relationships between humans and more-than-human lives. Magical realism has deeply shaped how I see the world, allowing me to bring together ecology, science, folklore and imagination.”

Luxe meets magical realism

The 35-year-old artist says a decade of working across materials has shaped his evolving visual language. The Hermès collaboration allowed Kohli to scale up his hand-built dioramas and explore window displays as a form of public storytelling. Speaking about the association, they say, “I was approached by the Communications Director of Hermes India last year. I was taken through the significance of window displays and how they are such a portal into the house’s identity. Entering a visual tradition means joining a lineage where everything else is valued above all else. We spent time exploring the theme of the year and I learnt that Hermes windows are interpreted locally, with each artist bringing their own creative expression while remaining connected to the theme. What particularly stayed with me was their idea of the windows as spaces of fantasy, wit and humour and something that can make a passer-by stop, look closer and immerse in another world.”

Kohli says the exchange changed how they viewed the work’s audience. The window display belongs to passers-by, offering insight into how the luxury house and the public perceive it. The displays become a meeting point between art and everyday life, inviting people to pause and interpret them in their own way.

Art vs AI

In an era saturated with digital imagery, Kohli remains drawn to the particular presence of something made by hand. The process, with all its research and experimentation, matters as much as the finished image.

In parallel world

A perfect day in Svabhu’s studio blurs the lines between work and life. It begins with coffee, their cats purring nearby and the garden slowly coming into focus. Mornings are spent tending to plants, watching an insect or letting the mind wander before turning to drawing, painting. Their altar, they say, reflects their artistic self. “It reminds me that making is not only about creating something new, but also about paying attention to what already exists and the relationships we build with the world around us. One misconception about artists is that we simply wait for inspiration. In reality, there is enormous rigour behind the magic: research, experimentation, technical skill and collaboration,” they mention.

Highlight: “For me, art is inseparable from the lived experience. There is something deeply moving about an object made by hand, where you can sense the time, thought and attention held within it.”