Tara Kasenda

Creating in solitude under the Parisian sky
By Nabila Giovanna W

'Eternal Ephemeral' installation view at Galerie Virginie Louvet, 2021. Image courtesy of the artist.

In the solitude of her apartment, Tara Kasenda’s brush glides softly across her canvas. At first glance, her pastel-coloured palette gives the impression that it was selected based on one’s perception of the sky, but in practice, each colour is an informed decision, grounded in research. Each colour derives from hundreds of pictures of the Parisian sky that she has taken and then synthesised with a computer programme to achieve a few main colours to use.

Tara Kasenda, detail of 'Rue Charlot', 2021, oil on canvas, 100 x 80cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

Tara graduated from Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in 2013 with a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts, specialising in painting. She later graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in Transdisciplinary New Media from Paris College of Art in 2019. Her artistic practice ranges from oil paintings and sculptures to installations and new media. Coloured in soft pastel hues, they transport us into her spiritual and liminal realm, where the certain and ambiguous collide.

She has participated in solo shows such as ‘Eternal Ephemeral’ at Galerie Virginie Louvet, Paris, France and ‘Unshut Windows’ at Galerie Achetez de l'Art, Paris, France, both in 2021. Her recent group shows are ‘Titicara: Annual Women Group Exhibition’ at Selasar Sunaryo, Bandung, Indonesia (2022) and Art Jakarta 2022, presented by ISA Art & Design. She was named one of Forbes Indonesia’s 30 under 30 in 2019 for the Art, Style, and Entertainment category. In 2017, she was a finalist for the 5th Bandung Contemporary Art Award (BaCAA).

'Eternal Ephemeral' installation view at Galerie Virginie Louvet, 2021. Image courtesy of Galerie Virginie Louvet (photo: Adrien Thibault).

Her move to Paris has provided her with new grounds to “find her colours”. In her exploration, she found them in the sky, in between the different hours of the day. In her most recent solo exhibition ‘Eternal Ephemeral’ (2021), eight oil paintings, named after different places in Paris, such as ‘Rue Charlot’ and ‘Rue de la Perle’ illustrate the Parisian sky in its warm and tender moments. To her, the sky reflects what is eternal and bigger than all of us. Inspired by impressionist works, these paintings also paint a delicate portrait of Paris and the fleeting nature of time.

Click here to read our dialogue with Tara Kasenda.