MARYANTO

The exhibition’s title, We Are Here and Still Life, points to the paradox of human desire to reconnect with nature, but increasingly through artificial means: from manicured gardens, aquariums, and terrariums to digital landscapes within video games and virtual reality. Yet Maryanto reminds us that preserving nature is deeply intertwined with preserving history and collective identity.

Building on his earlier explorations of utopia and journeys along forking paths, Maryanto presents a new body of work exploring nickel mining and the destruction of small islands across Indonesia. The seemingly dystopian landscapes in this exhibition reflect the intrusive and violent nature of these extractive processes. Alongside these recent paintings, Maryanto will collaborate with Singapore media-installation artist Chok Si Xuan to develop an installation that draws upon their respective affinities with the Banyan tree, which holds deep symbolic significance in Indonesia, both spiritually and politically. Its sacredness is further manifested through Breathe, Banyan Tree (Lake Tamblingan, Bali), which depicts a giant banyan tree standing majestically in the middle of the forest at the edge of Lake Tamblingan, with its roots cascading down from its branches.

Located along the slopes of Mount Lesung in Bali, Lake Tamblingan comes from the words: “Tamba”, for ‘medicine’ or ‘remedy’ in Javanese, and “Elingan”, which means ‘to remind’. Maryanto draws on the story of a plague that hit the surrounding villages, before a holy and powerful man took water from the lake to heal the community, to suggest the vulnerability and power that coexists between humans and nature.

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