Artists Statement/Bio

Each day we wake up reaching for beauty. But beauty does not come simply or often, we work hard at it. We eat right and exercise to achieve physical beauty. We read late at night and search our thoughts for internal beauty. We hold on tight to the ones we love for the ultimate beauty. My work is a commitment to those of us who seek to harmonize our lives with the possibility of ubiquitous beauty.

Natasha Kohli grew up in the Chicago area. Her upbringing as an Indian-American exposed her to a variety of different spiritual and aesthetic influences. She comes from neither a ‘traditional’ Indian upbringing or ‘traditionally’ American one. In her early twenties, Kohli started her own small business, even though she never went to business school or studied business. Her endeavors have been self-motivated and unorthodox. Her business continues today and has grown, as has her art. In both, her spirituality and ethos remain forcefully present. A business woman and/or artist both belong to a world of others. Not just one’s immediate community, her liminal upbringing situates her in several communities, large and small. Yet her travels to Delhi, Florence or New York, not to mention her beloved Chicago, have confirmed in her that all places are part of a whole; which is why she has pursued design and art, as she has experienced the need for beauty, ‘here’ or ‘there’ as one of the universal features of our humanity. But she also takes quite seriously the spiritual idea that a community can be made up of even just two, since by bringing joy, comfort or truth to even one other person, potentially brings it to the whole world.