MARK A STAIN
Redbase Foundation Yogyakarta
June 20 - September 15, 2026
Mark a Stain takes its name from a simple premise: that marks left behind, stains, tears, residues, are not signs of damage but of lived experience. Working in ceramic, yarn, and latex, the four artists in this exhibition treat imperfection as evidence, and material as memory.
Nia Gautama focuses her artistic practice on women’s issues, feminism, and the domestic sphere. Working across ceramics, mixed-media, and performance, she uses her medium to deliver sharp political commentaries. Through symbolic arrangements, such as sequential ceramic uteri against blood-red grounds, she reclaims the female body as a sacred space while demanding accountability for the systemic violence it has absorbed.
Mark a Stain takes its name from a simple premise: that marks left behind, stains, tears, residues, are not signs of damage but of lived experience. Working in ceramic, yarn, and latex, the four artists in this exhibition treat imperfection as evidence, and material as memory.
Nia Gautama focuses her artistic practice on women’s issues, feminism, and the domestic sphere. Working across ceramics, mixed-media, and performance, she uses her medium to deliver sharp political commentaries. Through symbolic arrangements, such as sequential ceramic uteri against blood-red grounds, she reclaims the female body as a sacred space while demanding accountability for the systemic violence it has absorbed.
SHE FEELS YOU #2
Ceramic stoneware, mirror, volcanic ash, handwritten letter
Ceramic size (thickness x width x length)
1 x 19 x 24 cm/pcs
Installation size 19 x 375 cm
*the volcanic ash was collected from Mount Merapi Eruption in 2006
All human being, both men and women, were born from women’s bodies. Inside the woman's womb, a new human will live and grow. For about nine months, a woman will take care of the fetus inside her body with compassion and love, until it becomes a baby to be ready to be born from her body. The action of caring and nurturing then continues timeless.
However, in reality, women’s lives are still vulnerable by the acts of violence, harassment, and any other painful things, both physically and emotionally.
This artwork was made by stoneware ceramic, which borrowed the shape of a woman’s womb, framing a dusty mirror in the center, with handwritten letters read as “DO YOU REMEMBER?”. The work was intended as a reminder that we were all inside a woman's body.
Therefore we should respect, appreciate, and honor women.
The ceramic color arranged in gradation from black - grey - white, as a metaphor of women’s role and existence who are often forgotten and neglected – the color visualized as faded then lightened.
However, in reality, women’s lives are still vulnerable by the acts of violence, harassment, and any other painful things, both physically and emotionally.
This artwork was made by stoneware ceramic, which borrowed the shape of a woman’s womb, framing a dusty mirror in the center, with handwritten letters read as “DO YOU REMEMBER?”. The work was intended as a reminder that we were all inside a woman's body.
Therefore we should respect, appreciate, and honor women.
The ceramic color arranged in gradation from black - grey - white, as a metaphor of women’s role and existence who are often forgotten and neglected – the color visualized as faded then lightened.
