Kashmakash by Kumudini Hajra — Private Tour & Talk!

Join YCC Lisbon for an exclusive private tour and talk!

Step into Kashmakash with YCC — an evocative journey by Kumudini Hajra exploring the interplay of nature, identity, and inner transformation.

Date: Saturday, September 14, 2025

Meeting Point: Pátio do Tijolo 1 à D. Pedro V, Príncipe Real, Lisboa

Time: 17.30 - 19.00

Kashmakash

We are but a reflection of ourselves

Kumudini walks the line between control and unpredictability inherent in the medium of printmaking. The process involves a considered presence, an awareness of both the formal constraints of the technique (pressure, reversal, and repetition) and an intense concentration and awareness of detail. The ability to delineate a notion whilst also subjecting it to chance —every mark made is both deliberate and uncertain - relies onan ability to live within a certain paradoxical state. This could be described as a ‘flow state’, but often this word can insinuate that art making is an easy thing.

"Kashmakash" is a Hindi/Urdu word that translates to "dilemma," "struggle," or "conflict." It signifies a state of being pulled in conflicting directions, experiencing tension, or grappling with opposing forces. Despite the work we see in this exhibition responding to nature, serenity and the tranquility of water formations shimmering on rock puddles, the underlying currents are powerful. Documented on multiple visits to the coast line of Southern Portugal, Kumudini's lens searches for something that she feels is just outside of her reach.

The psychological tension of indecision inherent to artmaking is not usually the most revered, yet it is in the echoing of the emotions present in its creation that there is a space for the viewer to enter the frame. Kumudini's systematic approach to printmaking, refining her mark, builds up layers of colour and texture in a quiet yet steady exploration of her heritage, identity, and place in the world. Printmaking, in this instance, is also an exploration within the formal qualities of the paper, the press and the (im)printing techniques - each aspect becomes a fluid curiosity to be studied and

rigorously tested in its own right.

When we don’t see a clear direction forward how do we begin? We slow it down, step by step. We start with a wide lens, scanning, then we begin to zoom in. Let the rest fall away. What isn’t shown here is important. With printmaking the desire to produce is tempting. Here, we are invited to witness the ones that didn't follow the rules. A ghost print, a plate, a leap into the unknown. The ability to replicate does not ensure the consistency of image, and for this we are grateful. Kashmakash is a point of tension between two solutions, but we may ask what is a solution, when the problem at hand is rich with teachings. We are but a reflection of ourselves, and our struggles can be transformed into journeys, if we were to give them a fresh lens.

Artist Biography

Kumudini Hajra (b. near Delhi, India) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice centers around printmaking, photography, painting, and drawing. In 2021 she began working at Celeiro Printmaking Studio in Colares, Portugal, and in 2023 she advanced her training in printmaking at Contraprova Studio in Lisbon and in 2025 through an extended residency at Aviário Studio in Ferreira do Zêzere. Her printmaking frequently explores abstraction and spontaneity as a tool for understanding identity and place. Inspired by nature, especially the textures and organic forms of the Atlantic coast—rocks, cliffs, and tidal pools—her photography often informs her etching process. She has participated in group exhibitions in the Glasgow Gallery of Photography (UK) and the Freguesias de Cascais & Estoril Gallery (Portugal), and is published in several Shutter Hub collections (UK). Her work will be exhibited at the The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers exhibition at the Bankside Gallery in London, UK, in September 2025 and in 2026 she will study at the Mokuhanga Innovation Lab, Echizen, Japan.