Solo Exhibition
7-14 April 2022
Art Jakarta Gardens
Booth B1: ISA Art + Design
Hutan Kota by Plataran
Jl. Jend. Sudirman No.Kav. 54-55, Gelora, Kecamatan Tanah Abang, Jakarta, 12190, Indonesia

View catalogue with essay by Bianca Winataputri (PDF 11 MB)

I bought a box of Balinese salak — snake fruit — as a souvenir for my family in Java.

After returning from holidays, what I ended up gifting my dear relatives — who earlier that year had rearranged their home to accommodate me, who had fed me delicious nourishing meals, who had dropped everything whenever I needed help, who had turned up to every one of my exhibitions, who had answered my many peculiar questions, who were so patient with me when I messed up — was a large hamper of fermented salak.

There are numerous fermented foods in Indonesia and many of them make very special gifts. There is brem (fermented glutinous rice), terasi (fermented shrimp paste), tempe (fermented soy beans), tape singkong (fermented cassava), oncom (fermented peanut press cake), dangke (fermented buffalo milk), pakasam (fermented fish)…

Rotting snake fruit, however, is not a special gift.

Budhe, Pakdhe, maafkan saya jika ada yang kurang, salak salah atau difermentasi secara sengaja atau tidak sengaja. 

Can’t jongkok [squat]
for shit

Good Intentions (uncertain recollections) 2021, acrylic on canvas, 120 x 155 cm

Good Intentions (Mau Beli Oleh-Oleh untuk Tante) 2021, acrylic on canvas, 180 x 155 cm

san du ta ma 2021, acrylic on canvas, 180 x 155 cm

san tai 
du lu
ta kut
ma suk                   (angin)

Livelihoods 2021, acrylic on canvas, 155 x 180 cm

There are hot springs down there. They’re very posh*. 

*Think vivid purple cement elephant statues spurting once-scorchingly-hot now inoffensively-warm water over their backs into a glistening tiled bath + complementary wifi (PW: y0uL00kb3aut1fuLT0dayMadam) with entrance fee + towel + romantic sunset + pisang goreng wipe grease from your mouth with carefully-origamied diamond tissues and sip ambitious blends of seasonal fruits while you float posh

You can reach the posh pools via a series of dirt-poor villages, shit roads and dusty shacks selling dusty packets of dust-flavoured junk food.

The pools bubble with sunburnt necks and noses, pale pale wrinkled digits, plucked eyebrows, freshly facialed chins, manicured claws, braided tentacles, and best-side-staring-into-the-distance profiles — which slip and slide and float and paddle, drift dissolve cascade and evaporate.

My baby nephew and I bob in a soup composed entirely of couples attached at the lips. We bob to a complex rhythm of sacred ritual singing blasting from temple speakers down the road syncopated by Justin Bieber hits blasting from poolside speakers above.

Our bobbing makes ripples which lap inappropriately on the saggy cheeks and perky nipples of strangers. The ripples make waves, the waves they build and rear and curl and oh whoa splash the ripped jean hot pants of a poolside recliner.

DPS – JOG 2021, acrylic and collage on canvas, diptych: 180 x 305 cm

​​I always ask for a window seat: to peer down (dan nangis) into the craters of volcanoes; to peek the blindfolded people trying to walk between banyan trees in the alun-alun (ternyata! Si pohon beringinnya meloncat ke samping!); to spot the bend in the river and the bridge at the turn-off to my grandmother’s house (kiri! Saya turun di sini saja Bu Pilot). To imagine: what my aunties and uncles are doing (hari ini menjahit apa Lik? Budhe dan Pakdhe mau mampir Pakdhe di sebrang sungai ya? Jangan lupa pakai helm yaaa. Dan kencangkan tali helmnya!); what my cousins are up to (aduh Mbak gak pernah istirahat. Aku akan membayangkan momen istirahat buatmu ya. Santai dulu Mbak, tarik nafas); what my nieces and nephews are playing (lihat insekt apa di sawah? Nonton apa di TV? Bulik ganggu ya, banyak pertanyaan). We land and must wait for ages for our baggage to appear. Mine is one of the very last, but I pass the time by imagining what others bring with them.

I want but yeah also 2021, acrylic on canvas, 200 x 155 cm

I want to pay the cheapest price for mangosteen in the market 

but yeah I also want to drink a cappuccino every morning in the ‘tourist café’ across the road. 

(manjanyaaaa)

I want my neighbours to look out for me

but yeah I also want to come and go as I please without having to explain myself.

(mau ke mana mbak?)

I want to join buka puasa

but yeah I also want to eat throughout the day. 

(mens ya mbak?)

I want my aunties and uncles to treat me the way they treat their other keponakan

but yeah I also want to dodge being asked when I’m getting married.

(Kamis Pon mungkin Pakdhe)

I want to be a generous host

but yeah I also want to not serve men who expect to be waited upon by a woman.

(ambil sendiri ya Mas)

I want the ojek driver to stop complementing my Indonesian

but yeah I also want the taxi driver to quit telling me I speak like a seven year old.

(mbak sudah lama di Indonesia ya)

I want to celebrate all the religious holidays

but yeah I also want tone-deaf men to stop doing the azan. 

Narrative paintings