Artist Spotlight Talk about Ipeh Nur

Ipeh Nur is an artist based in Yogyakarta whose work draws on personal experience, daily life, memory, resilience, and history. Working mainly in drawing and painting, she also uses batik, ceramics, printmaking, sculpture, installation, video, and murals. At Omstand, she is presenting Seperti Laut Yang Gelap Dan Misterius (2023), a cave structure made with naturally dyed canvases evoking the Yoni, a Hindu-Buddhist female symbol, paying tribute to the traditional belief in the coastal communities of Mandar and Java that the sea is a woman.

This work is informed by her journeys with the Mandar community during artist residencies and work periods in 2019 and 2022, when she learned about the tradition of boat building and the threats that the traditional maritime cultures face. Millions of Indonesians live in coastal villages and make their living from the sea. In recent years, the Indonesia government has initiated major embankment projects with the hope of protecting the coastline from rising seas, though these construction projects are threatening the ecosystem and affecting the livelihood of local fishermen. The videowork Menghanyut: Tubuh dan Perjalanan (2022), documents her interactions with the fishermen and the ritual of boat-building. 

Independent art historian Danielle Hofmans will explore the significance of Nur’s work, which weaves together local, personal, and historical narratives, while positioning it within the broader context of contemporary Indonesian art practices.

Photo: Seperti Laut yang Gelap dan Misterius (Als een Donkere en Mysterieuze Zee), by Marjon Gemmeke