Nadya Jiwa works with images transformed in various states of stasis. She cycles images that emerge from printed matters or forms of broadcast, retracing and reworking forms in strokes of pencil or paint. Gestural impressions remain on surfaces as residue. Identities of those represented obscured. At times, the origins of what is depicted in the work are more clearly identifiable akin to source material for a photograph, but in other cases, only shadows remain derived from free associations we encounter through colored textures. Those things derived from analyses and synthesis obtain the same capability, same force, and importance in her work. Jiwa renders images within this continuum, from the concrete to the abstract, in a certain remanifestation of ideas.
Khayal imagines a conceptual subtitling of sorts in meaning and ownership of those images imagined by our collective consciousness. Jiwa oftentimes activates, as a departing point, popular images from the realm of the virtual. Not necessarily images that are warm to us as it relates to actual causalities or the stimulation of the conscious mind, but rather the darker, more imaginative aspects of our residual collective memory.
Throughout these series of works, she presents images of ghosts. There exists a relationship between these depictions of photographs deemed in Indonesia to be embodiments of superstitions, the more metaphysical natures related to these beings, as well as spectres as imagery in and of itself. Mysticism and its relata is on one hand commonplace in Indonesia, forming a sort of essential element to the social structure of its populace and its daily cycles of existence. Justice returns, then, as a form of natural circumstances, with its darker circumstances counterbalancing the self into existence as counterpart. It is as if fate others over its own course, and the circulation of these spectral images is akin to a chain of prayers interspersed in and through each other. It is not uncommon to see these images of the supernatural, more often than not in a certain celebration of its artificiality, in mass media as well as in the news
Khayal then becomes an issue to the alignment of how images originate from the imagination. Encouraged by anxiety as a driving force, the two become closer to each other. ‘Seeing’ becomes much close to ‘making’ as the act of imagining blurs the imaginary into proximity with reality and what is false simultaneously.
Artist
B. 1994, Braunschweig, Germany
Lives and works in Bandung, Indonesia
Nadya Jiwa precipitates impressions as well as images that form in her work. Consuming information, human nature is presented in conjunction with a certain composition of reality through thin movements and strokes that may at once be derived from more cognitive considerations, while departing from intuition. Symbolism is deftly interweaved in Jiwa’s paintings and drawings in an attempt to distill a cacophony of interactions, information exchange, as well as development of her external world. It is as if she attempts to share a certain sensibility of personal knowledge and impression that approaches more spiritual considerations, impressions that are at once clear and yet uncanny, and of truths that seem devoid of meaning and yet linger.
Jiwa received her Bachelor in Arts from the Bandung Institute of Technology with a concentration in painting. Selected exhibitions include solo presentation Khayal | Chimeric with ROH at Liste Showtime (2021); duo presentation with Rizal N. Ramadhan, Batang Mati, Cendawan Tumbuh at Selasar Sunaryo Art Space, Bandung, Indonesia (2022). Her group exhibitions include Biennale Jogja 17: TITEN in Yogyakarta, Indonesia (2023); Basel Social Club, Basel, Switzerland (2023); Art Basel Hong Kong with ROH, Hong Kong (2023); Art Collaboration Kyoto with ROH, Kyoto, Japan (2022); Art Jakarta Virtual with ROH (2020-2021); S.E.A. Focus with ROH at Gillman Barracks, Singapore (2020); Jauh Tak Antara, Sepilihan Karya 20 Perupa Bandung at NuArt Sculpture Park, Bandung, Indonesia (2018); Getok Tular #2: Spacing Out (Lamunanku...) at Omni Space, Bandung, Indonesia (2018); 15x15x15 at Galeri Soemardja, Bandung, Indonesia (2016); Smile is the Answer by Catalyst Art Shop Jakarta & Kopi Keliling at Local Fest 4.0, Grand Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia (2015); Lunch Time! at Kanal Art Space, Jakarta, Indonesia (2013); and Apa Saja dan di Mana Saja Woodcut Exhibition at Galeri Soemardja, Bandung, Indonesia (2013). Nadya Jiwa is the Silver Winner of the UOB Painting of the Year, Emerging Artist Category in 2019.
View ArtistCopyright belongs to The Artist
Photography by Maruto Ardi
Text by Yacobus Ari R.
Courtesy of The Artist and ROH