Poonam Jain (b. 1989) works with drawing and installation to highlight the structures that undergird the fields of pedagogy, economy and architecture. Jain has often turned to acts of counting and measurement that serve as rituals or determine the distribution of power in society at large and within the micro unit of the family. Through these overlapping interests, Jain has recurrently addressed the function of language and how it is used to order the world, exploring the possibilities of creating a gap between symbols and their meanings. Currently, Jain is researching the history of letterpress printing in South Asia, through support from the India Foundation for the Arts (2022-23), with an emphasis on the consolidation and exclusion of scripts and languages that took place over time.
Jain was a member of the Clark House Initiative, Mumbai, from 2011 to 2016. Her work has been shown in group exhibitions at Sapar Contemporary, New York, 2017; New Gallery, Paris, 2016; INSERT 2014, New Delhi; Gdanska Galeria Miejska 2, Poland, 2014; MKG127, Canada, 2014; Kadist Art Foundation, Paris2013. She has had solo exhibitions at Art Dubai with 1x1 art gallery in 2018, at Clark House Initiative, Mumbai in 2014, and at 1X1 Art Gallery, Dubai in 2014. Jain lives and works in Mumbai.
