Seema
Mathew

Seema Mathew is a self-taught artist and a two-time cancer survivor. In 2014, after recovery from cancer treatment, she took up painting full time to realise a life-long dream of being an artist. Early in Seema’s artistic practice she accidentally discovered the unusual effect of Chinese ink on canvas, and she spent the next 5 years experimenting and researching this medium.

Seema’s artistic philosophy is one of constant curiosity, seeking inspiration in the most complex artist and architect of all - nature. She’s also fascinated by the sciences, and sees art as a way of bridging the gap between the scientific/rational left brain and the intuitive/emotional right brain, a contradiction echoed internally in the struggle between control and chaos. The resulting artwork evokes the Taoist philosophy of the union of yin and yang through expressive abstract landscapes. The complexity of human relationships and the struggle of the human against the environment, particularly acute in Hong Kong’s crowded urbanscape, are underlying themes in her work. Of Indian descent, Seema has been based in Hong Kong for over two decades and her art is deeply influenced by her personal experiences and lived environment.

A passionate recycler, in early 2020, Seema created the series “Ugly-Beautiful” with recycled linen paper and styrofoam. Since then she has been experimenting with ink and water soluble graphite on linen paper, adapting techniques that she had “invented” for canvas. 

Seema’s most recent work is inspired by the abstract images seen when looking at dried up paint on her work table through a microscope. The solid red/gold panel is Seema’s signature, an adaptation of the traditional Chinese artist’s name stamp.