Delhi-born, Sydney-based artist, Kirtika Kain examines caste and patriarchal structures that have been enforced upon and embodied by generations before her. Drawing influence from Dalit literature and historical archives, Kain incorporates a myriad of materials that relate to themes of valuation, corporeality, ritual, and tools of manual labour, including brooms, religious pigments, rope, tar and leather. Through diverse alchemical and experimental printmaking processes, Kain attempts to transform and reclaim these everyday materials into aesthetic objects of value; thus, re-defining and re-imagining a personal and collective narrative.
Kain was awarded the Lloyd Rees Memorial Youth Art Award and Hornsby Art Prize (Printmaking) in 2017. As the recipient of the Bird Holcomb MFA Scholarship, she graduated with a Masters of Fine Arts at National Art School in 2018. In 2019, she completed consecutive studio residencies in New Delhi, supported by Art Incubator and the Dyason Bequest, and at the British School at Rome. She was recently a finalist in the 2020 Create NSW Visual Arts Emerging Fellowship at Artspace and is currently a resident of the Parramatta Artist Studios program.
