Curatorial Statement

With the main theme encompassing my exhibition being “Youth” I believe all audiences could relate to the theme, which would widen my audience range.The conceptualization of the theme itself metamorphosed from preliminary and faint ideas, I knew that I wanted to be able to create artworks revolving around people, as such pieces were one I gravitated towards.

The wide connotation on the extent of the youth period greatly varies per someone's understanding of the term. The first artwork, titled “Girl With Her Stuffed Tiger” stems from the topic of “Childhood”, specifically how an individuals childhood period and upbringing would greatly affect how they would turn out as adults. I was inspired by the 1995 photograph “A Few Seconds Before Joy” and wanted to imagine the moments after the photograph in my own life. Thus I had recreated the scenery with my little cousin. I wanted the piece to be more open to interpretation, one would be that it shows how small things us older individuals might take for granted could mean a whole lot to children, such as a stuffed animal, the other would be that children with less boundaries/ authority may result in entitled children, this is shown through the child's smile which could also come of as a smirk.The vibrant colors of the piece represent the joy the child feels after receiving the gift, the tone of the girl is brighter than the background would allude how self centered people think that the world revolves around them.

The next artwork, titled “RUU KUHP” utilizes the topics of “youth activism”, I have observed that the younger generation are more keen on progress and critical about most things, let it be the environment, human or even animal rights. Thus when the Indonesian government had proposed the “RUU KUHP” law which delves on sensitive matter such as banning criticism of the government and restricting women's rights liek abortion, the ‘mahasiswa’ / college students of Indonesia did not stand still, they flooded the streets of the capital city by the tens of thousands, to the government building to protest against the proposed law. This mass demonstration lasted several days, which dire consequences, some sacrificing their lives for democracy, consequently in the end the law was dismissed thanks to the youths' activism.

What contributes most to my art making are things I am affinite about, and the experiences I have encountered. I am interested in badminton, and found a heroine in the sports, Susi Susanti. The intention behind this artwork titled “Putri Bangsa” (Nation’s daughter) is to take a jab at the Indonesian government who failed to protect the Chinese-Indonesian community in 1998 when a tragedy occured where many Chinese-Indonesians property was raided, destroyed, their lives at risk and the women raped and tortured. Susanti is an example of the hypocrisy of Indonesians, benefitting from the chinese community while holding a racist attitude towards them. Indonesia was propelled in the world's eye when Susanti had won Indonesia’s first gold medal in the Summer Olympics of 1992 at the young age of 21, yet sadly just 6 years later the “ Tragedi Mei” occurred, simplified, Indonesia received one of its greatest joy from a chinese-indonesian woman yet failed to protect them. Moreover Susi Susanti despite having represented Indonesia in numerous tournaments worldwide had issues in obtaining her nationality document, an example of the racist attitude towards Chinese-Indonesians.

Through my exhibition I intend to invoke a plethora of feelings from within the audience such as delight, curiosity, repose, and sorrow. My vision for this exhibition is to create artworks that would be conspicuous, yet complement one another. This would then create a coherent body of work which is pleasant to the eyes. Having conducted the exhibition at home, I had to consider the limited space when arranging the artworks. I had arranged them in a way I see fit, so that each artwork is given proper respect for.

Thanks for viewing my exhibition :)