Citra Sasmita is a contemporary artist from Bali whose work focuses on unraveling the myths and misconceptions of Balinese art and culture. She is also deeply invested in questioning a woman’s place in social hierarchy and seeks to upend normative constructs of gender.

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Born in Bali, Indonesia on March 30, 1990, Citra Sasmita has never formally graduated from an art institution. Studied at Literature diploma, Udayana University (2008) and Faculty of Mathematics and Sciences, Ganesha University of Education, majoring in physics (2009), Her dream as an artist grew again when she joined the campus theater group and became a short story illustrator in Bali Post. When she became an illustrator she deepened his self-taught world of art and actively participated in exhibitions in Bali and outside Bali. 

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In 2016, her work which was exhibited at the exhibition “Bali Art Intervention # 1” was highlighted because it presents a female figure who kissed the head of a pig, presenting the image of Balinese women’s cultural life in psychological and social pressures, as the editorial of the exhibition showing works of critical and the dark side of Bali. Then in 2016 at the Merayakan Murni exhibition, Citra presented an  installation of 100 ceramics combined with a hanging scale “Mea Vulva, Maxima Vulva” which represented  the inequality of social class and crisis of identity. In 2019,  the notable exhibition that Citra participated is Synthesis (Wonders Of Indonesia), National Gallery Kvadrat 500 Bulgaria.

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One of her long term projects, Timur Merah Project ; Harbor of Restless Spirits being presented in Garden of Six Seasons, ParaSite, a painting on cow’s hide reflects the Kamasan Balinese painterly language that Citra has been developing in her practice. Its represents a geography of female figures, fires, and various natural elements, composed whimsically in an unfolding of pansexual energy. While rooted in mythological thinking with Hindu and Balinese specific references , the scenes are equally part of the contemporary process of imagining a secular and empowered mythology for a post-patriarchal future.

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Gold Award Winner UOB Painting of The Year 2017 and Biennale Yogyakarta 2019 become the notable award and exhibition in her career.