Kartika Affandi is a second generation master painter from Indonesia. Born in Jakarta in 1934, she is the only child of legendary artist Affandi. Ibu kartika, as she is fondly and respectfully known, practises an incredibly unique style of expressionism. She directly squeezes from tubes and paints with her fingers, endowing raw emotion in snaking patterns onto the canvas – a technique exclusively taught to her by her father- The celebrated artist Affandi. 

Ever inspired by nature, her artworks are vibrant, playful, energetic and invigorating.

From the age of seven, Kartika was instructed by Affandi on how to paint with fingers and tubes directly on the canvas. Any mixing of colours was done on her hands and wrists. Kartika has no permanent studio; like Affandi, she prefers to paint outside in the village environment where she interacts directly with her subjects and on-lookers. This contrasts with most contemporary Indonesian painters, who work in their studios from mind-images, memory, photographs or sketches.

She is a legend in her own right and is often invited to give artist talks in international art events. Kartika is a recipient of Doctor Honorary Causa in Art and Culture from Nothern California Global University (NCGU), United States of America in 2004; Honorary Degree Maestro in Pittura, Italy; Golden Medal from Academica of Salsomaggiore, Italy, and many others.
Early in her life she accompanied her Father to INDIA and stayed on for two years to be a student in Shantiniketan, where she received training from Nandalal Bose and others.

Although Kartika remains first and foremost a Javanese artist, her work has influences from western painting and sculpture, and from the arts of India, China, Japan and other Indonesian traditions. This can be partly attributed to her travels as a child with her father to India, Bali and other destinations and partly to her own artistic pursuits in Europe when she was older.

Pls Note: Only selected recent exhibitions and awards have been listed in this profile. For the complete list of achievements and honours, pls contact our gallery.