Citra Sasmita, Book of Fire (signed by the Artist)

Book of Fire is Sasmita's first widely released poetry collection (2017-2018) featuring alongside artwork from her Timur Merah Project (2024).

Before gaining recognition as a visual artist, Citra Sasmita began her artistic journey through poetry written in English. Two of her poetry collections, Farewell Hymne and Journey to Eternity, were published in limited editions and earned her a place among the Emerging Writers at the 2009 Ubud Writers & Readers Festival. In 2012, she began working as a short story illustrator for Bali Post, marking the emergence of her distinctive visual style.

Citra Sasmita (b. 1990, Bali, Indonesia) is a self-taught artist. She studied literature and physics, and worked as a short story illustrator for the Bali Post before she began developing her artistic practice.

Sasmita focuses on unravelling the myths and misconceptions of Balinese art and culture, whilst shedding light on the Dutch colonial history which had shaped notions of authenticity in Bali. She is also deeply invested in questioning a woman’s place in social hierarchy and seeks to upend normative constructs of gender by reimagining mythical and classical narratives of war and romance to exalt female resistance instead.