Restu Ratnaningtyas’ Solo Exhibition
Curated by Alia Swastika
28 June – 9 August 2019
Cemeti – Institute for Art and Society
TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction | Artwork Images | Opening Documentation | Artist’s Biography
Teks Pengantar
Migration is a complex process; it does not merely refer to displace oneself physically from one place to enter another. It is a psychological experience in which one encounters social tension, culture shock, and anxiety within the space. When talking about place shifting, we do not always imagine a long journey by flight through many miles just like migrants do. Instead, we are also agitated by the experience of moving to the adjacent neighborhood, even if it is less than 10 kilometers away. Restu Ratnaningtyas in Domain/Terrain has delved through her personal experiences of moving in and out of old and new places. They are simple episodic memories which were initially perceived psychologically as social phenomena; yet when reflected from a certain distance, this allowed her to respond to these memories from a different perspective.
Restu recorded her childhood experiences particularly when she was ‘forced’ to relocate due to land ownership conflicts. Then, she tracked the course of events which occurred when she was older and had to move several times due to different personal circumstances. From her memories of home, land, physical boundaries, and other relevant aspects, she stepped into the subject of domain. Terrain serves as an affirmation of boundaries constraining the idea of home, and at the same time an emphasis on the notion that home also entails the way people connect with their natural surroundings. In Domain/Terrain, the displacement narrative serves as a place where Restu can immediately encounter social conventions that affect private spaces. Ideas regarding the home, both physically and mentally, are presented in fragmented images of incomplete imaginations transformed into puzzles scattered throughout the exhibition room.
Her works this time combine a wide range of media, hard and soft, abstract and narrative, small and big, as a measure taken to set herself free from the boundaries of visual and material languages. This exhibition is a new playground for Restu as an artist. Several works seem to be unfinished; or from another perspective, it might be designed to spare some possibilities to further its transformative journey. As usual, the basic approach of Restu’s works is drawing; a medium through which she actively articulates her memories and fantasies. In relation to domain, her drawing medium enters a new playground as well, initiating a new journey. Thus, instead of arriving at the end, she is embarking on a new exploration.
Foto Karya
Artwork Images
The Line Crosser
Water colour on paper
68,5 x 82 cm
2018
Bertahan Pelan #1
Water colour on paper
77 x 97 cm
2018
Terjadi, Maka Terjadilah #2
Acrylic on myler film paper & wood
Variable dimension (Mylar Film : 89 x 91 cm)
2019
Terjadi, Maka Terjadilah #1
Cotton fabric paint & spray on linen
114 x 145 cm
2017
Celah
Mix Media
54 x 69 cm
2019
Relung #1
Acrylic on canvas
130 x 180 cm
2019
Relung #2
Eartware , 43 pieces
(each 8 cm x 30 cm x 16 cm)
2019
Rampai
Water colour on paper
27 x 21 cm
2019
Dinding
Watercolour on paper cotton, & polyester
Variable dimention (painting: 89 x 69,5 cm, doll’s hand: 77x 14 cm)
2019
Dikomposisi #1
Water colour on paper, found object
Variable dimension (painting: 103 cm x 144 cm, installation: 220 cm x 227 cm x 306 cm)
2019
Membatu
Acrylic on canvas
110 x 150 cm
2019
Diskomposisi #2
Mix media
Variable dimension
2019
Slices
Video: 04’57”, fiber sheet (47 pieces)
Variable dimension
2019
Exhibition View
Dokumentasi Pembukaan
Opening Documentation
Photo documentation Opening of Exhibition RANAH/TANAH, 28 June 2019, Cemeti – Institute for Art and Society. (Photo: Muhammad Dzulqornain & Ika Nurcahyani)
Profil Seniman
Artist’s Biography
Restu Ratnaningtyas (1981) adalah seniman dan ilustrator asal Tanggerang yang sekarang tinggal dan bekerja di Yogyakarta. Ia pernah bekerja sebagai drafter, guru, dan kurator. Sebagai seniman, ia aktif mencipta karya dan terlibat di proyek-proyek seni baik di Indonesia maupun manca negara. Selain pertunjukan solo – ‘Memento: Privatization Roomdi Vivi Yip Art Room, Jakarta (2008) dan ‘Tantrum’ di KedaiKebun Forum, Yogyakarta (2016); dan ‘Subsume’ di Baik Art, Los Angeles (2017) – Restu telah berpartisipasi dalam pameran kelompok internasional, termasuk ‘mn%u0113monikos: Art of Memory’ di Bangkok, Thailand (2013); ‘The Roving Eye’ di Istanbul, Turki (2014).
Restu melakukan eksplorasi dengan beragam media, terutama cat air, kertas, video, kain, instalasi dan multimedia. Karya-karyanya berbasis drawing yang kebanyakan membahas mengenai kehidupan sehari-hari, hal-hal yang aktual, narasi kecil, dan objek yang terkait dengan keseimbangan kehidupan manusia.
Sejak tahun 2010, Restu telah terlibat di dalam program dan proyek di Rumah Seni Cemeti: Road | 5 Seniman Myanmar 5 Seniman Jogja (2010), program residensi HotWave #1 (2010), pameran kelompok ‘BEASTLY‘ (2011), pameran kelompok ‘Domestic Stuff’ (2012), proyek seni & pameran Dobrak! (2013), pameran kelompok ‘FastForward’ (2016), Concept Context Contestation – diinisiasi oleh Bangkok Art and Culture Centre berkolaborasi dengan tiga kurator Asia Tenggara (2016), POLA-Patterns of Meaning – proyek kolaborasi Jim Thompson Art Center dengan Rumah Seni Cemeti (2017-2018).
CEMETI 