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Kendisan

Artist Statement

My art explores the uneasy relationship between humanity and nature, and how our insatiable desire for peace often stems from the belief that we are somehow distinct from the environment we inhabit.

I paint human figures within fictional landscapes as a way to reimagine humanity as a non-central element among many in the environment we live in, to create spaces where the boundary between us and nature softens.

Working in oil requires me to balance intuition with slowness, making the painting process both freeing and contemplative and allowing tensions to unfold unexpectedly while still requiring patience. I tend to use large gestures and saturated colors, mostly through minimal premixing, to create a feeling of surprise and spontaneity.

Artist Biography

Kendisan studied Film at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD, 2010), where she continued to nurture her love for drawing, painting, and storytelling, and worked as a teaching assistant for multiple figure drawing classes for adults. Her love for creating stories within imagined universes drove her to pursue creative writing at the University of Maryland (UMD, 2015), where she also taught undergraduate fiction writing.

Kendisan has worked as a journalist and editor for a Jakarta-based current affairs magazine, as well as a training specialist in the non-profit sector with a focus on empowering communities through photography and storytelling. Her work of incorporating creativity into field work, as a way to amplify meaningful human connection, sparked her return to visual arts.

In 2024, she was a finalist in the 14th UOB Painting of the Year Exhibition in the Emerging Artist category, the same year she began exhibiting. Her art has been exhibited in Jakarta and Bali, where she now lives.

Style: Abstract

Mediums: Traditional - Acrylic, Traditional - Oil, Traditional - Drawing, Traditional - Multimedia

Exhibitions

2024 - Art Haus Grand Opening 30x30 Exhibition - Art Haus, Sanur Bali
2024 - "14th UOB Painting of the Year" - Art Awards - Jakarta
2024 - "Soft Spoken" - Group Exhibition - ONNI Garden House, Jakarta
2025 - "Perempuan Melawan Cermin" - Group Exhibition - Layana, Bali
2025 - "Mabiang Seni Grand Opening" - Group Exhibition - Mabiang Seni Art Residency, Bali
2025 - "Gadis. Wanita. Ibu." - Group Exhibition - Mana Uluwatu, Bali
2025 - "The Power of She" - Group Exhibition - Sadik Arts Brokerage
2025 - "Muse Numinous" - Group Exhibition - Balimoon Resto & Gallery - Ubud, Bali
2025 - "The Medusa With Us" - Group Exhibition - Pedro Coffee - Ubud, Bali
2025 - "Through Her Eyes" - Group Exhibition - Como Uma - Ubud, Bali
2025 - "Liana Reverie" - Group Exhibition - Labyrinth Art Gallery - Nuanu Creative City, Bali
2025 - "Beragam Lini" - Group Exhibition - Ruang Fungsi, Seminyak, Bali
2025 - "Ubud Open Studios" Group Exhibition - Mabiang Art Residency - Ubud, Bali
2025 - "Her Colours" - Group Exhibition - Biji Art Space - Ubud, Bali
2026 - "Streetcart Gallery" - Group Exhibition - Full House - Canggu, Bali
2026 - "Held in Common" - Group Exhibition - Biji Art Space - Ubud, Bali