Ruth Marbun

Artist Statement

Ruth Marbun was born in 1985. She studied and worked in the fashion industry in Singapore before starting her art practices, unexpectedly, as she decided to go back for good in 2012. The search for a community back home has eventually led her to the contemporary art scene in Jakarta, Indonesia. A lot of her work captures emotions and prompts people to reflect the question of discomfort. She values individual experience(s) as a significant infrastructure in the society.

Through her works, she pictured imperfections as strength that represents a role in perseverance as well as adaptation of human beings. As someone who lives most of her life in big cities, people and communities has become central to her memory. She tends to visualize and deconstruct figures through her use of paint, layers of fabric, unapologetic sewing and sometimes, printmaking. She has exhibited her work through exhibitions in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Melbourne and Sydney as part of “Termasuk” group exhibition at Darren Knight Gallery in 2019.

Looking closer, seeing further

In isolation, limitations reveal the unseen: a little peep hole with a wide angle lens. As no one has expected, staying at home turned into a noble act that requires nothing but to reside-encouraging us to think inside and about the box itself. How life adapts to closed doors is similar to our body: when it loses one sense, it dispenses efficiency to the existing ones. We begin to expand the spectrum in mundanity by connecting to our primordial calling as human: we have been collectively re-learn ways to nurture, connect and create since time is probably the only thing we have close by our side at the moment. Catching myself reflecting and understanding how essential it actually is a blessing in disguise. In fact, the ability to address a blessing in disguise has been valued greatly in the Indonesian culture. It's the way our ancestors and elders kept their spirit high despite the up and downs of their lives. Today, we find hope in uncertainty whereas, big dreams are momentarily put on hold. How is that so?

SELECTED WORKS

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