Kirtika Kain has an ongoing interest in anti-caste movements and the experience of caste in the diaspora, explored through material and studio processes. In her works, gold, bitumen, and turmeric combine to create intricate and luminous surfaces that highlight the aesthetic and affective qualities of her chosen materials.
The tar used in each of these works carries a material history of extraction, labour and transformation, as well as a cultural history of ritual, ceremony, and medicine. The histories of the gold and turmeric used prominently in the works is equally rich and complex. Kain acknowledges these embedded histories while engaging in experimental processes that extend the cultural language of the materials.
The new works presented in 'Pitch' reflect Kain's background as printmaker. The two sides of the ambitious central work are essentially a plate and a print, with the canvas side having acted as the printing plate for the hessian component. Similarly, the smaller tar works that surround the significant scrolling work are produced as casts of other painted surfaces. In this way, Kain's studio becomes like an archive that continually creates itself. These processes are also alchemical, dealing in transferal and transformation.
'Pitch' is a Murray Art Museum Albury exhibition presented in partnership with Campbelltown Arts Centre.
