I Gusti Ayu Kadek Murniasih

I Gusti Ayu Kadek (IGAK) Murniasih ( - , also known as Murni, was a Balinese self-taught artist, and was one of the few Balinese women artists to have entered the mainstream Indonesian art scene. Her work is known for the depiction of disembodied bodies that transcend sexual violence, trauma and reclaim female sexuality. Murni's artworks have been exhibited and collected by galleries and museums including the National Gallery of Australia and the National Gallery of Singapore.

Background Murni was born in Tabanan, Bali in May 21, 1966, and was the tenth child of farmers. Her family later relocated to South Sulawesi as part of the Transmigration Program initiated by Dutch colonial powers. At the age of 9, she experienced sexual assault from her father and this experience would critically inform her artistic practice in the future.

At the age of 10, Murni moved to Makassar as a domestic helper for a Chinese-Indonesian family and relocated with the family to Jakarta. She returned to Bali in 1987, where she found work with a jeweler-silversmith. At times, her paintings would depict sexual intercourse in variants and symbols, interpreted as the artist acknowledging her body as feminine, sexual, motherly yet marginalised. Despite the use of playful humour and cartoon-like simplicity, her works allowed the artist to transcend women's struggle from being a passive sexual object to an active sexual subject, as well as the paradox of sexual domination between male and female.

Exhibitions and art shows Murni's works have appeared in numerous group exhibitions in Indonesia and overseas since 1995 and posthumously. Padova, Italy 2000 Perjuangan Murni (Murni’s Struggle/ True Battle)/ Cemeti Art House Yogyakarta, Indonesia 2021 I Gusti Ayu Kadek Murniasih: Shards Of My Dreams That Remain In My Consciousness,/ Gajah Gallery Taipei

Selected Group Exhibitions