East Java, Indonesia
In 2023 I lived for one month in Wonosalam, East Java. I was there on an artistic residency preparing work for Biennial Jatim X, in collaboration with the multidisciplinary artist Wahyu Kiky Yudha Prasetya. Kiky and I worked on an installation together involving painting, sculpture and sound, and I drew as much as I could on my sketchbook. Some of those drawings served as starting points for the paintings at Isabel Sullivan Gallery, although they inevitably metamorphosed in the studio.
My friend and collaborator W.K.Y.P. (also known as Kiky) was a great guide of the region. Researching for our work together, which took inspiration from our surroundings, meant walking in the mountains, findings waterfalls, drawing from the landscape but also drawing the friendly strangers we met along the way.
Staying at Kiky’s family’s home in Wonosalam meant I witnessed and got involved in some of the seasonal activities related to farming and food. Together we peeled broad beans and cut cassava. Kiky generously agreed to let me draw him while he watered the plants, and sometimes I worked from photos I had been taking during the day.
I always carried a sketchbook with me, which was rather small. For bigger pieces I worked from my sketches, using fabric and other materials sourced around me. Wonosalam is a beautiful small village, there was no supermarket around me, or art shops, and I had only brought sketchbooks, pencils and watercolours with me. So I got some crayons in a small corner shop, meant for children when they go to school, and I started experimenting with pressing leaves and flowers onto the fabric. I enjoy working in this way, trying to find solutions when the materials are limited.
I was always mesmerised by the landscapes around me. It was a magical time exploring, hearing the call for prayer in the distance, amongst the birdsong. Roads were long and windy and motorbikes were the most common form of transport - my neighbours usually offered to give me a lift, seeing me walk along the road to stop every now and then to draw. Sometimes we would be in high places and I could see the rice fields down below, from a distance. It was very sunny, hot and quiet.
In East Java the landscapes brought me a sense of exhilaration and scale, a sense of one’s own smallness so closely comparable to what I used to feel as a child visiting Northern Portugal with my parents - a theme which I often explored as a Painting undergraduate, now unexpectedly reemerging. Giant boulders remind me of my humanity, in its state of smallness and awe.
Kiky introduced me to the traditional Javanese ritual of Jaranan, which caused a huge impression on me with its wonderful mystery, masks, music and dance. We attended various performances together and I drew both on the spot in the audience and later from videos and photographs. Kiky is a Jaranan dancer himself, and he has thoroughly researched the subject, so I knew I wanted to include representations of it in our installation.
We also attended a Panjat Pinang (climbing a slippery pole) competition, celebrating Independence day. I made quick sketches in the audience and then worked from then on fabric.
A lot of being away, both in Indonesia but also as someone who grew up in Portugal and is now based in London, means positioning myself in regards to those who are far away. It is about letting go, remembering and questioning how different independence and loneliness can be. I often include a figure leaving the composition because that’s how I feel many times - only temporarily there, and constantly thinking about those who aren’t present as well.
I’m grateful to painting for the ability to revisit memories, extend, stretch and slow time as one labours through the evocation of both brief encounters and long multiple moments passed with loved ones. Painting as magic again, this time casting a spell on impermanence and presence.
