MADE BY EMTE

Curated by Heru Hikayat

Platform3 gallery

Bandung, Indonesia

 

In the beginning, I used human figures as the object in my artworks. Humans are definitely the most captivating object to draw. We are surrounded by the image of humans in our life. It seems that it is our way to convince ourselves that we are where we are supposed to be, that we exists among other people. Another possibility is that we are obsessed with a certain rule that we consider as ideal: a pretty face, a good body, convincing gesture, a charismatic look and so on. And every human figure that I drew is doing a casual activity: cycling, picnicking, chatting, eating together and kissing. A harmonious relationship. There’s intimacy and togetherness.

 

My illustrator background enables me to draw human figures correctly and proportionally. For example, the colour brightness can shape different folds of the clothes, so that they suggest certain gesture, and again emphasize the relationship between the people. 

 

However, at one point, I felt uncomfortable. On certain parts of the drawings that I have created, I made a kind of ‘explosion’, blurring the images that I have built previously. I destroyed our established impression of shapes. I draw with watercolour, an incredibly plastic medium that can be used to elaborate shapes and present details. On the other hand, watercolour is very liquid, almost uncontrollable, seeping into the drawing field or melting drawn by gravity. Watercolour represents the characteristics of a medium that does not fully abide the artist’s desire.

 

I shaped the figure in my artworks pieces by pieces. On a calculated point, I distort the figure. At this point, the watercolour is back to its original characteristics, melting uncontrollably and free. It is not a controlled medium used to create any shape based on the artist’s desires. It still has its characteristics and I explore such characteristics through paper, canvas, watercolour, bodies, faces and other things familiar to humans. 

 

‘Soft Violence’ is a form of gentle hardness. In this, I showed the shapes that I made, the ones that we see every day, not as sturdy. Behind their appearances lies a different force, which seems to be gentle, although it’s not necessarily weak.