Nilima Sheikh [b. 1945, New Delhi] studied painting at MS University, Baroda between 1965-71. Since 1983, she has held ten solo exhibitions and participated in a three decade long career, in several group exhibitions. These include Through the Looking Glass [with Arpita Singh, Madhvi Parekh, Nalini Malani] a travelling exhibition [1987-89], Artists Alert, Sahmat New Delhi [1989], Dispossession, Africus, First Johannesburg Biennale, South Africa [1995], The Second Asia Pacific Triennale of Contemporary Art, Oueensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia [1996], Chamatkara, organised by CIMA at Whiteley's Art Gallery, London [1996], The Self and the World, Gallery Espace at National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi [1997], and Embarkations, Sakshi, Mumbai [2000]. Nilima Sheikh's work, which varies in scale from painted tents and painted stage sets to miniature format painting in tempera, has drawn richly from the Indian Pahari and Mughal painting, as well as Asian painting traditions. Her works refer to history and literature, such as the folk epic poetry of the Punjab and the Jataka tales. Nilima Sheikh has illustrated and designed books for children. Since 1971 she has written essays on art for exhibition catalogues, journals and books. She has designed and painted the stage for the Vivadi productions: Improvisations for Nayika Bheda [1989], Umrao [1993] and Sundari, An Actor Prepares [1998]. She can be described as a poet-painter who has successfully re-interpreted the Oriental painting tradition from such diverse sources as the ancient tradition of Chinese scroll paintings, the Persian as well as the Pahari School of Miniature painting. Nilima- like a magician - has woven these traditions into her long scroll-like paintings. Hers is a world of wide-open space and gentle hills, over which wisps of clouds seem to float in animated suspension. Soft hues of earth and natural mineral colours add to the romance - reflecting an ancient way of life, which only exists in nostalgic memories today. Her paintings can make one dream about poet Kalidasa's Meghudutam, the cloud messenger, or imagine the caravan of Gulbadan, Emperor Babur%u2019s daughter, traveling across the deserts of India to reach her father's court at Agra... ExC Chamatkara, Whitelays Art Gallery, London, Oct-Nov 1996. Nilima Sheikh's style takes its inspiration from such eclectic sources as Pahari and Mughal miniatures, Japanese Ukiyo-e prints and western modernism. Her sensitive colouring conjures up delicate bird's eye views of sweeping tableaux. Though her figures appear fragile, her themes can be alarming as in her famous works "When Champa grew up" series of 1984, chronicling in twelve parts the tragic narrative of a young girl moving from childhood, through premature marriage and ultimately to immolation. Other painting however, appear gently mystical with figures that float and dance in harmonized pastel vistas.