Kamla Kakaria

• May 5 - 26, 2016
• Opening: Thursday, May 5

Marigolds are a recurring element in Kakaria’s practice, inspired by a childhood spent at lavish Hindu weddings. In India, the vibrant flowers are used as decoration and as necklaces for the bride and groom, symbolic of divine blessings and a prosperous life ahead.

In her exhibition, delicate white pigmented beeswax, wire, and paper blossoms are suspended from the ceiling to create a luminous environment. These floral silhouettes are mirrored in wall-mounted screen prints on glassine and Tyvek.

While visually stunning, there is a tension in the work, an allusion to the uncomfortable pressure of both arranged marriage and assimilation into Western culture as a first generation American.

About the Artist

Kamla Kakaria received a BFA in painting from the University of Massachusetts and an MFA in printmaking from the University of Washington. She works mostly with beeswax, wire, paper and pigment. Her art has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is held in numerous regional collections. Kakaria is a long-time contributor to the vitality of Pratt Fine Arts Center, where she runs the printmaking, painting, and drawing studios and teaches classes and workshops.