Artist Talk with Kirtika Kain and Francis Carmody

Hear from artists Kirtika Kain and Francis Carmody as they discus their work in the 2026 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Yield Strength.

Kirtika Kain is an artist and educator working on Dharug land. Combining elements of sculpture, experimental printmaking and painting, Kain’s practice draws from her Dalit lineage and investigates material histories, ancestral memory and the complexities of race and caste in the diaspora. Her work is influenced by the legacy of anti-caste literature and song.

Kain’s labour-intensive studio practice engages ancient materials of ritual and labour — pigments, waxes, cotton, grains, gold, copper, tar and hessian— reclaiming their traditional religiosity and challenging notions of purity, sanctity and stigma. Her abstract works act as archaeological vestiges, reflecting on the unarchived body and the vast multiplicity of Dalit experiences across time and geography.

Francis Carmody’s artistic practice serves as a useful alibi to reach out to people across disciplines and technical capabilities to share stories and complete projects. Through tracing networks and natural structures, he would like to get a glimpse of where we have been and where we are going.