"For his latest series of works, the artist has stepped out of his usual environment in Yogyakarta, entering STPI’s studios to explore the possibilities of print-making and papermaking as a three-dimensional process. The title of this resulting exhibition is Ujung Sangkut, Sisi Sentuh - four words, understood easily enough in the artist’s native Bahasa Indonesia, but a mind-boggling challenge to translate into English. They are simple “big” words that can be applied in various contexts to conjure vastly differing images. “Ujung” is understood as the farthest extreme of something and can mean an edge, a point, a corner, a tip or an end; “sangkut” literally means to hook, but also
to suspend, hang, peg or even catch on or connect to - a snag; “sisi” can refer to the (left or right) side or flank, flat (top or bottom) surface or “body” of an object; and finally “sentuh” can mean to touch, come in contact with, lean against, or rest on. When I asked the artist to show me his interpretation of the title, he got up from his seat, stood with his back a few inches away from the wall and stretched out his arms above his head. He then touched the wall with his fingertips, leaning his shoulders against the wall. “This is what I’m trying to communicate - the condition of an object when it is ‘standing’ in this position without a strong support or base to hold it up."