In this exhibition, Nadiah wanted to convey her ideas about a degradation wrapped in the gloss of elegance or poise. The degradation she has felt centers mainly around personal and social issues via architectural objects. Lately, these two things have made her anxious. Nadiah makes these two issues the anchor for the selection of objects that represent her ideas and thoughts. Nadiah has drawn four portraits and four architectural objects. All the works are created with the same medium and technique: charcoal on paper collage. 

Nadiah’s contemplations about the fragility and deterioration of both personal and social issues depart from her observations and experiences of hanging out in Yogyakarta. She sees a considerable economic gap between the rich and poor. Her impression is that people tend to neglect this gap. But instead of being distracted by the social structures of her experience, Nadiah sees that the less fortunate often find different ways to anticipate this. 

Basically, there are double-meanings in Nadiah’s drawings, with philosophical ideas and academic research on the one hand, but on the other these drawings represent upheavals in her personal life. “When we receive many things, there are other things taken from us,” says Nadiah.

In reality there are always personal dynamics within families. Along with our development as human beings – there are transformation from our early roles as children, to becoming parents to our own children – giving us the opportunity to reflect on our relationship with our parents. Apart from the love we have for our parents, we then become more detached in making assesments and perception of them: our fathers as this person, or our mother as this person. Parents eventually become independant individuals in the eyes of their children.

The idea of maintaining poise brought Nadiah to use her mother’s portrait in the work Poised. Nadiah sees her mother as being very poised, without excessive displays of emotion. In Nadiah’s understanding, her mother maintains an elegance and reserve from facing a lifetime of challanges. Nadiah selects the figure and posture of a bird to represent her understanding of her mother.

About the artist:

Nadiah Bamadhaj was born in Petaling Jaya, West Malaysia in 1968. Trained as a sculptor at the Univeristy of Canterbury in New Zealand, she now produces drawing and digital images. She has worked in non- government organizations, lectured in art, and has written on both Malaysia and Indonesia. In 2000 she began full-time art practice and was awarded the Nippon Foundation’s Asian Public Intellectual Fellowship in 2002, electing to spend her fellowship period in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, where she currently lives with her husband and two-year-old son. Her artwork continues to focus on the social intricacies of Yogyakarta society, using myth, architecture, and dwelling to articulate her observations.

-Richard Koh Fine Art

Image: © Nadiah Bamadhaj
Nyi Bolorong Bertanggung
2013
Charcoal on Paper Collage
237 x 79cm