Anubhooti अनुभूति by Megan Simper

These works are a collaborative exploration of the classic Indian Rasas (emotions), through the lens of the duality of masculine and feminine energies as the seed of life and creation, and as expressed through the media of clay and music. They are reflections of the Navarasa नवरसा (nine emotions) and represent a conversation across traditional Indian and Western aesthetics.

Anubhooti अनुभूति is the Hindi word for experience, perception, or realization. The intention of this presentation is to allow visitors to be immersed in experientiality and encounter raw emotion without the coloring or burden of a concrete label. The titles of the works therefore remain in Hindi and Romanized Hindi without English translations provided. The opportunity here (except for those familiar with Hindi) is to dwell in the purity of perception, to explore how each interpretation moves as it is, and to access that language beyond language to get at the dimensionality and nuance of the experience of human emotion.

We celebrate the collaboration of form & sound, east & west, masculine & feminine, and tangible & intangible to create an experience of shared humanity, emotionality, and realization.

About the musical pieces by Megan Simper:

Some of my most prominent influences come from cinematic soundtracks, folk music, my contemplative practice, and the distinct and captivating voices of the Utah landscape. In these pieces, I examine the contours of emotional dynamism and expand them in time and sonic space. I offer them as containers to inhabit and explore the quality and dance of the experience of feeling itself.

After Antra introduced me to the Navarasa नवरसा, I felt a strong common thread of being between each of them which came to be represented by a recurring melodic theme. This theme is woven through the pieces in their various modes, reflecting the beauty and bittersweetness inherent in facets of emotion and being. To me, the uniting element is the breathing hallelujah of existence, a posture of receptivity and appreciation for all experience, holding it all without judgment. Breath and vocalization is a prominent texture – though without the shaping of a specific language – in order to resonate with and invoke our shared humanity.

The ‘seed of creation’ concept of the complementarity of feminine and masculine energies is symbolized throughout these pieces by the use of hemiola, the subdivision of the beat by 2’s and 3’s. My goal is to balance the openness and intuition of the 2’s, and the intellectuality and drive of the 3’s. Duality is also reflected in the textures of various folk instruments and the interplay between dissonance and consonance, which are as central to a musical journey as they are to emotional perception.

About the clay pieces by Antra Sinha:

I have grown up experiencing the innumerable emotions present in theater, dance and visual art. The literary study of these emotions Navarasa, नवरसा happened during my college years. The rendezvous with the form of Aditi अदिति became the start of this journey of reflection and creation. Aditi is the name of the ritual object from the Indus Valley civilization and represents one of the most ancient goddesses – the representation of nature, of creation itself. My work is an interpretation of the union of the masculine and feminine. Through my collaboration with Megan’s music, I wish to celebrate the formation of the seed, growth and abundance which envelopes all emotions.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to our anonymous donor for supporting this special collaboration.

Megan’s unique musical style is complex and lyrical, seamlessly blending classical, folk, bluegrass, and blues with fingerstyle guitar, mandolin, piano, and more. Weaving intricate instrumental textures with vocals that are both pure and powerful. She surrounds her listeners in a rich sonic landscape evocative of her native Utah landscape to draw them into radical presence.

megansimper.com