‘What Remains Awake’: a solo exhibition by Sonika Agarwal

Artist Sonika Agarwal will present a solo exhibition titled ‘What Remains Awake: Dream, Depth, and the Fourth” at Kalamkar Gallery, Bikaner House, from January 30 to February 10. The exhibition is advised by curator Myna Mukherjee and will be open daily from 11 AM to 7 PM.

The exhibition draws on the Indic framework of four states of awareness—Jagrat (waking), Swapna (dream), Sushupti (deep sleep), and Turiya (the fourth state)—and examines these ideas through abstract painting, sculpture, and installation. Rather than illustrating the states directly, Agarwal approaches them through colour, form, and spatial arrangement.

Working across multiple media, Agarwal extends painting beyond the canvas into three-dimensional and immersive formats. Colour functions as a key element across the works, shifting in intensity and tone in response to light and viewing conditions. Several works require prolonged viewing, foregrounding stillness and attentiveness.

Curatorial advisor Myna Mukherjee places Agarwal’s practice within broader discussions of perception, interiority, and non-Western philosophical traditions. Abstraction in the exhibition is used as a method to engage with inward experience rather than representational imagery.

The exhibition includes sculptural installations such as Vasana: The Architecture of Desire, which addresses latent impressions and longing, and Dominance over the Silence of Ahimsa, which reflects on power and vulnerability through a predator–prey dynamic. Other works use low light and subtle illumination to reference dream states and subconscious experience.

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A self-taught artist with over seventeen years of practice, Agarwal has exhibited in India and internationally. She is a recipient of the National Stree Shakti Award and her work has recently been acquired by the Museum of Sacred Arts (MoSA), Belgium.

When: January 30 to February 10, 2026

Where: Kalamkar Gallery, Bikaner House, New Delhi