How long have you been working in the region and what excites you about being there?

I was born and work until now in the city of Yogyakarta, so I have lived here all my life.  The thing that makes me excited and happy to live in Yogyakarta is the dynamic artistic atmosphere as well as the community who love art and the arts.  It makes feel comfortable as an artist and that I can feel free to express my art.

 

Can you please describe where you work? What can you see out of your window?

For now I don't have a special place to work, because my place to work is the family room, dining room, as well as a place to study for my children hehe, but that makes it more exciting and interesting.  From my window, I can see my garden with several fruit trees, many trees in the small forest around our house, our chicken coop, a pair of swans, and two turkeys that are kept in our garden.

Tell us a little about your current work.

During the current pandemic, I mostly work just at home on paper with watercolour and drawing, and I make sketches for design works.

Can you share with us something of the story behind one of the works on view at Castlemaine Art Museum?

My work entitled Terpuruk (exhibited at CAM as Destiny and Regret and Postpartum Syndrome: Sunk) is from 2014. This was exhibited in my solo exhibition in Jakarta, Indonesia and again at Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome in the same year for a group exhibition, with several other Indonesian artists.  This work tells the story of how the mindset can greatly affect the health and balance of one's body and soul. Humans are physical beings as well as non-physical beings, both of which must be fed in a balanced way. The imbalance between body and soul makes a person fall, and for this work Terpuruk I took the subject of a female character.

Do you start with an idea or does your work develop more intuitively out of the process of working with materials or forms?

I often create works starting from an idea, but not infrequently my work develops intuitively from the process of working through materials and forms.

What music or podcast are you listening to when you work?

Usually when I work, I don't just listen to one particular type of music genre and only one type of podcast, it can be very varied depending on the mood at work at that time.

 

Is your practice solitary or do you work with others?

I practice solitary.

 

Can our readers view your work in any other way at the moment?

For now, some of my works can be seen on IndoArtnow and IG @mariaindriasari.

June 2021