How it all started
Lahap (Ravenous) is my first complete body of work where I started investigating the subject of trauma as a form of inheritance. This particular body of work concentrates on the effects of a strained parent-child relationship to my views on food; through small ceramic sculptures that highlight dishes that have a significant impact on my life. by altering the appearance of dishes from my childhood these intricate sculptures carry and release hidden narratives from personal lived experiences. This self-reflexive, cathartic process chronicles my journey to emancipation.
Having moved to Bali from my hometown Jakarta for work during the 2020 Covid lockdown, I had found a sense of freedom I never had before. So when I first started developing this body of work, it was a reawakening of my inner child; Clay was a material that allowed me to process and release the tension and emotions within my body.
Ndjagong [Corn and Attendance] was my first piece; It came about after I started exploring my trauma and found that I couldn't produce my thoughts into sculpture without it taking a huge toll on my mental health. This sculpture is based on a happy memory that I had of my grandfather, a story full of misunderstandings, wordplay, and laughter.
The idea that trauma is something that only lives inside oneself is something to be argued. I think, it moves through person to person, jumps between lives through the intangible stringy fragile connections of lineage; ingested and absorbed over time, forever a part of you. And while it may not be the most tangible, it is the most everlasting.
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