Some gardens are grown from soil, others from memory. In Shape of My Heart, artist Nidhi Mariam Jacob takes viewers into imagined landscapes where flowers, foliage and colour become vessels of remembrance — tracing an intimate journey through grief, healing and transformation.
The new solo exhibition at KYNKYNY Art Gallery was born in the wake of the passing of Nidhi’s mother, Helen Elizabeth Jacob, whose quiet affinity with plants left a lasting impression on the artist.
“This collection consists of 18 paintings, which I created over the course of about two years. As I worked on this collection, I kept wondering what to call it. I found myself thinking that if my heart had another shape, it would be a garden or a cluster of flowers. The title also reflects my mother’s influence as she nurtured my love for nature from childhood and shaped the way i see and appreciate the natural world,” Nidhi begins.
As a child, Nidhi believed her mother possessed an almost magical ability to understand the language of flowers and the earth. Whether tending to seeds or nurturing cuttings, Helen’s muddy hands seemed to carry the power to create, heal and restore, inspiring her daughter to see her as a nature goddess.
“When I was young, right from when I was 1 or 2 years old, i spent hours watching my mother gardening. She would plant seeds or place a stem in the soil and when i asked what would happen next, she’d simply say, ‘anything could happen, anything is possible.’ She never limited my imagination by telling me exactly what would grow. That sense of possibility has stayed with me and it’s why the flowers in my paintings aren’t bound by botanical accuracy — they grow from intuition and imagination,” she recalls.
Those childhood memories bloom throughout the exhibition, not as literal landscapes but as imagined gardens shaped by emotion. The paintings become spaces where longing, wonder and memory meet, paying tribute to Helen’s knowledge of plants as healers and to the sense of curiosity and freedom with which she embraced the natural world.
“To me, nature has always been a healer — a place of calm, comfort and quiet answers. The gardens in my paintings aren’t bound by botanical accuracy. They come from a childlike way of seeing, where a eucalyptus flower can become a soft powder puff and a cotton pod can resemble an ice cream cone. That sense of wonder and imagination is at the heart of my work and I think it’s one of the reasons children connect so naturally with my paintings,” the artiste tells us.
Nature’s ability to adapt and transform also finds its way onto the canvas. Flowers stretch beyond recognisable forms, colours drift away from realism and compositions follow instinct rather than observation. The result is a visual language where dreams, symbols and recollections take root, allowing memory to flourish through imagination.
“All the paintings in this collection are acrylic on canvas. I love balancing symmetry with randomness, so different flowers and plants that would never naturally grow together coexist in my imagined gardens. I also enjoy freeing colour from reality — leaves can be blue, red or yellow and flowers can be green. it’s my way of creating landscapes that are guided more by what my mind can conjure up than just what the eyes can see,” she elucidates.
The paintings in Shape of My Heart aren’t botanical studies but rather emotional landscapes where impossible flowers bloom, unexpected plants co-exist. “I chose to work mainly in smaller and medium-sized formats because many collectors today are looking for pieces that fit comfortably into their homes. The fantasy gardens are an act of remembrance, but are also a celebration of memories of my mother. Through these imagined gardens, I continue a conversation with her. Other works to spot are Moksha, Samsara, Harmony, Artha, Candyland, Humility, Rebirth, Towards the sun, Congruence, Mukti and Kerala,” the artist concludes.
On till August 22, 11 am to 6 pm. At Embassy Square, Infantry Road.
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