In this panel discussion presented alongside our exhibition Hyphenated, we will hear from exhibiting artists Kirtika Kain, Jason Phu and Ben Soedradjit about the role of printmaking in their diverse practices. Facilitated by MAG&M Curator Ben Rak.

Printmaking is a toolbox of techniques and ways of thinking about image-making. Unique aspects of the craft, such as the mirroring of an image when transferred from matrix to substrate or the precise lining up of layers, affect how artists who are trained in print, work across media.

Hyphenated brings together a diverse group of artists to create works that reflect on what it means to have hyphenated identities.  The works presented in the exhibition are meant to expand the audience’s appreciation of the immigrant experience, hybrid identities, and the Australian embrace of global diasporas.

This is an official Sydney Craft Week 2024 event. 

View our other Sydney Craft Week 2024 events here. 

About the artists

Kirtika Kain
Delhi-born, Sydney-based artist, Kirtika Kain examines how oppressive social hierarchies and power structures have been enforced upon and embodied by generations before her from the perspective of an outsider. Kain incorporates a myriad of humble materials that relate to themes of valuation, corporeality, ritual and the manual labour of the lower classes including iron filings, gold, vermillion and bitumen. Through diverse alchemical and experimental printmaking processes, Kain attempts to transform these everyday materials into aesthetic object of value; thus, re-defining and re-imagining a personal and collective narrative.

Jason Phu
Jason Phu's artworks explore Chinese histories in Australia, his own family history, and Chinese/Vietnamese folktales. Jason has shown in the Dobell Drawing Biennale (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, The Burrangong Affray (2018) at the 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Primavera 2018: Young Australian Artists at the Museum of Contemporary Art and was commissioned by the Sydney Opera House for the 2019 Art Assembly Commission. In 2021 he was the recipient of the $80,000 Mordant Family Moving Image Commission for young Australian artists for Analects of Kung Fu. He is represented by Station Gallery (Melbourne) and Chalk Horse (Sydney).

Ben Soedradjit
Ben Soedradjit lives and works in Sydney. His lino prints draw on personal experience and Indonesian heritage to examine post-colonial/contemporary Australian identity. Research into the layered cultural histories of both Australia and Indonesia, the vernacular, popular culture, positions of power, and personal histories inform the visual language employed in his art practice. He intends his works to be a catalyst for dialogue, reflection, and engagement, that embrace projections of multiple understandings and theoretical fluidity. Ben's works are held in private and public collections within Australia and internationally.