Ken ✶ Syakira
UNIT 1
✶ info
syakiraken@gmail.com
11/03/2025
We had a visit to Balinese artist Citra Sasmita’s first solo UK exhibition in the Barbican alongside students from MA Printmaking, and Kim Pace. Citra incorporates traditional Kamasan painting techniques from her hometown into her artwork. This technique, historically exclusive to male artists, is confronted and challenged in Citra’s artworks by exclusively depicting women, in a cycle of birth, life, and death. Depicting asexual reproduction, independent from male figures.
Her work presents some particularly Intersting aspects. She brought her Balinese and Hindu identity as the central idea of her artistic practice. I found presenting such traditional practices within the Western hemisphere a compelling juxtaposition. I was very interested in how she displayed her show separated in seemingly 3 distinct acts, eviident through the varying materials used in each. Despite the visual separation, a sense of continuity and flow was maintained throughout the show.
As a fellow Indonesian, I always consider the integration of my identity within my artistic practice to be crucial. However, I also recongize the potential of having too much considerations and elements incorporated in my practice would overly complex the outcome. While Citra explicitly features her identity in her art, I’ve come to understand that my identity as an Indonesian can be presented without being dictated towards a particular visual style.
Observing Citra’s show led to conversations and self reflection towards my own practice. It made me reflect how I don’t need to actively search for ways to express my identity in my art. My cultural and geographical background and experiences will naturally inform the thoughts behind my work and practice, and consequently, my identity. While it might not be as explicitly visible as in Citra’s practice, It will invariably be present in the background of my practice.
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Citra Sasmita | Barbican (2001). https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2025/event/citra-sasmita-into-eternal-land.