A solo exhibition by Ageng Marhaendhika. Exhibition on view at ARTSpace - ARTOTEL Batam, Lobby Level until September 30, 2025.

As for his work, Ageng takes in the rich foliage of our arboreal landscape—its virile leaves and branches, the birds that inhabit it as well as the shifting hues of the sky—and collapses it into the even surface of the canvas. Guided by kintsugi principles, a Japanese craft of ceramic mending, he harnesses the unique visual of the technique to carefully coax the natural form of his subject into an artful arrangement of brush strokes. In “Mending The Chaos”, he focuses on the water pollution caused by the batik textile industry near his home in Pekalongan. He takes the view of green nature that contrasts greatly with the bright orange pigment running down the river, this bizarre view adding to an almost surrealist quality, and puts down a reimagining of it in the works.

“Mending The Chaos” comes from the combination of kintsugi and control. Ageng’s life has led him to piece together the shards of his life into something meaningful, similar to kintsugi, that ascribes meaning and beauty in destruction and the creation that follows its wake. He paints this duality the way we, as humans, trudge on despite never really knowing what’s going on. It is human nature to persevere despite everything. He uses this framework to highlight the pollution problem of his hometown, thus not becoming a silent bystander and attempting to contribute in solving this dilemma while also showing his values and what he finds to be important. This is a moral stand on his part as an artist, to show that we all have a part in the caring of this planet and everyone that inhabits it, and that the trials we’ve been through can be the key to uniting and adding to our understanding of our place in this strange world.