Artist Statement

My research is concerned with personal identity and hybridity. My work involves an exploration of imagery informed by post-colonialism. As an Indian woman, I explore the continuum of cross-cultural negotiation made necessary both by the historical occupation of East by West and by my displacement and relocation. I have been culturally assimilated ­ I am a bicultural hybrid. My work represents this hybrid identity formed through personal, cultural and spiritual experience. The work combines both conscious and unconscious influences and incorporates symbols and circular motifs that reference elements of East and West. I merge colors, materials and philosophy associated with my Indian heritage with western notions of abstraction and aesthetics.

My work investigates post colonial and deconstruction theories of authors Homi K. Bhabha, Jacques Derrida, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and others. I also question Carl Jung’s notions of archetype and symbol as universals. The circle may be considered a universal symbol, but I reclaim it as a personal and culturally specific symbol. My interest in hybridity, identity and its symbolic representation is at the center of my work, from a macro to a micro level. I feel compelled to traverse the terrain between the traditional and the contemporary, between East and West.

Bio

Ina Kaur is a full time Printmaking faculty member at Bowling Green State University, Ohio, USA. She received her MFA in Studio Arts (Printmaking) from Purdue University, Indiana in 2007 and BFA from Chandigarh College of Art, Punjab, INDIA in 2003. Kaur’s current research deals with investigating how her work is affected by personal hybrid identity.

Kaur’s research has been included in a number of portfolios and collections, and showcased in numerous national and international exhibitions including most recently: Solo exhibit, reclaiming the circle: creative exploration in grey, Lala Gallery, Main street, Downtown, Lafayette, IN (Scheduled, January 2009); Semeiotikos of our time, Palette Art gallery, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India; Solo Exhibition, summer 2008, Converging Divergence, Printmaker’s Gallery, Arkansas State University, AR 2008; Naestved International Exhibition of Contemporary Mini print, Ronnebaeksholm Arts & Culture Centre, Naestved, Denmark in 2008; 7th Lessedra World Art Print Annual Mini Print, LESSEDRA Gallery, Lozenetz. Sofia, Bulgaria. INKLANDIA INVITATIONAL PRINT EXHIBITION and Sixty Square Inches, 16th Biennial North American Small Print Competition at Purdue University, IN; Speaking Volumes, Holter Museum of Art & Helena and Lewis and Clark Library, MT; International Art Exhibition, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat, Bangalore, India; Solo show: reclaiming the circle, Patti and Rusty Rueff West Galleries, West Lafayette, IN; Lagniappe 5: Pixels and Prints at Louisiana State University, LA and Bharat Bhavan International Biennial for Prints, Bhopal, INDIA.