I think I am an artist because I am a painter and not a painter because I am an artist”
The significance of craft and folk art in contemporary Indian art forms, as well as the strength of a story narrative, were lessons Nilima Sheikh learned from K.G. Subramanyan and Gulam Mohammed Sheikh. Based on Eastern painting traditions like miniature paintings, oral tradition discovered in regional folk ballads, and her own life experience, she developed bodies of work that inspire mystic imaginary landscapes that address feminine sensibilities. A motif that has persisted in the artist's work for decades is the combination of paintings with lyrics from local folk tunes. Her art has featured a range of tempera paintings, from traditional hung paintings to scrolls and screens for the theatrical stage to hand-held miniatures of architectural landmarks. She lives and works in Vadodara.
She has displayed paintings in the first Johannesburg Biennale in 1995 and 2nd Asia-Pacific Triennial in 1996 and 4th Kochi-MuzirisBiennale in 2018 amongst several solo and group exhibitions.