A solo exhibition by Albert Yonathan Setyawan
31 October – 15 December 2019
Opening Reception: Thursday, 31 October 2019, 7pm – 9pm
Mizuma Gallery is pleased to announce Variations on Symmetry, a solo exhibition of Indonesian artist, Albert Yonathan Setyawan.
The exhibition is in some way a form of reflection and meditation on the relationship between materiality, geometry and a meditative art practice. Symmetry is inherently present in the domain of decorative arts. The perception of order and beauty when looking at something symmetrical reflects back on our own physical existence, in which symmetrical order is inherently present in our body. Humans have bilateral body symmetry. In visual structure, symmetry can be perceived as somewhat sterile and rigid while asymmetrical structure on the contrary, is associated with something more dynamic and less predictable. However, Setyawan believes there is something more to symmetrical structure than just rigidity and sterility. In decorative arts, symmetry and repetition are facilitated through sequences of objects and images, which can bring about a meditative quality and religious association which transcends the association of visual rigidity.
The significance of a medium-based art practice is that it provides a mode to be in the world by engaging with the medium in the process of art-making. Setyawan is always fascinated by the idea of repeating certain actions over and over again until eventually that action becomes more than just that action per se, representation disappears and transcendent abstraction is achieved via the very process of making it.
Variations on Symmetry will showcase new ceramic works and works on paper created between 2018 to 2019.