καιρός remembered

Memory and materiality

I have a soft spot for weathered materials and objects. They carry memories within them, make the changes wrought by atmosphere and time palpable, and reveal life in the face of transience. Kartika Kain’s work was the first thing I saw at the 6th Kochi Biennale, and I was immediately drawn to it.

Six large, suspended copper etching plates, barely recognisable as such. By leaving them to soak in ferric acid for a long time and then allowing them to oxidise, all manner of discolourations emerged, predominantly in blue and green, reminiscent of the sea around Kochi. A process of change that continues to this day through contact with the air.

In another series of works, tar, gold leaf and sometimes red pigment have been applied to cotton, with the tar showing cracks as if in scorched earth.

For Kain personally, the materials she uses in her artworks are closely linked to the history, memories and experiences of the Dalit community in India and in the diaspora, of which she herself is a part. She lives and works in Australia.

Photos of the week: 1and 2: Kartika Kain, Chronicles (2025), 6th Kochi-Muziris Biennale, and 3 and 4: Kartika Kain, from the series Mimetics (2025), 6th Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India 2026