This striking work re fects the Kamasan Balinese painterly language that Citra Sasmita has been developing in her practice. It represents a geography of female fgures, fres, and various natural elements, composed whimsically in an unfolding of pansexual energy. While rooted in mythological thinking through speci fc Hindu and Balinese references, the scenes are part of a contemporary process of imagining a secular and empowered mythology for a post-patriarchal future.
On the foor, the poem The Harbor of Restless Spirit is translated from a fragment of the 14th century Balinese poem called Kidung Wargasari. The kidung, or poem, talks about a Balinese calendar that mentions ten seasons. The poem fragment discusses the fourth season: the fertile season in which nature blooms and the poet receives sublime inspiration and knowledge from nature. It's also sung in Balinese rituals when praying to Mother Nature:
Thou Mother of Earth, Mother Universe
The intangible unthinkable
As the almighty creator of all seen and
the unseen above the world
Only by Your blessing and grace,
then words become fountain And wisdom become the current
The essence of the beginning is a necessity
As the days bend to the times
In a scene which is expertly played by its inhabitants;
Between giving and stealing lives,
there aren’t many choices
Forest and mountains keep the strange season
Which brings cold and brisk or sweltering heat
These make all beings mortal and
dissolve with world lineage
Whereas the fourth season, fowers bloom
Fragrant and soluble in the yellow of Tangguli tree
Inundated by the root Gadung that clings and thrives
The season continues without any futile time
All beings began to seed, into trees, into water, into fire
Into life that is waiting to be named.
Designed & Developed by: Curves n' Colors | Visual identity by: Wkshps
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