Putri Ramadina Taufik is an Indonesian artist based in Jakarta and London. She moved to England in 2014 to pursue her studies and completed her Art and Design Foundation in Brighton. She graduated from Leeds Arts University for her BA in Fine Art and recently completed her MA in Contemporary Art Practice: Critical Practice.
Putri Ramadina Taufik
Intrigued by how one remembers, I challenge the authenticity of memory by questioning one’s relationship with time. Relating this to the COVID-19 pandemic – doubt, hesitation and discomfort, influenced by the uncertainty that we encounter, have affected how we perceive the world.
I divide the keywords into three parts: which are ‘the almost’, ‘the maybe’ and ‘the things that are about to happen’ - leading to the notion of waiting. Is there really a different reality in the midst of hesitation, doubt and uncertainty?
Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot inspires me, as it provides insights of the human condition within the cycle of hope and despair. As an artist who encompasses painting and drawing, I am also influenced by Jorinde Voigt and Christine Sun Kim. Jorinde Voigt draws a visual grammatology formed by delicate marks, lines, curves, numbers, words and collage – transforming them into a diagram-like matrix, whilst Christine Sun Kim, whose first language is American Sign Language (ASL), examines the concept of sound by drawing, painting and performing. She produces new compositions and visual language by incorporating musical notations, graphics, body language and ASL that are often portrayed on paper.
Both Voigt and Sun Kim's approaches of creating their own language fascinate me, as I also try to portray a new narrative in my practice along with past memory and mapping as a method of interpreting a place beyond its physicality. With spontaneous mark-making as a starting point to create my work, I often leave blank areas to emphasise the notions of presence and absence.
Topics such as but not limited to self-surveillance (collecting data for oneself), the tenderness and fragility of maps and the relationship between the body and spaces are also outlined.
Almost everyone touches the notion of waiting as if it is an endless loop that has become a ritual that is performed daily – but, is waiting really part of human life? Are we waiting for the right answer? What are we really waiting for?
Fingerprint (2022)
Fingerprint (2022) detail
A blank, black painted canvas.
I repeatedly told myself not to paint on it and there was a hesitation. The moment I was hesitant to draw and paint on it was the moment I realised that there was a gap between wanting to do things and not wanting to do things.
The hesitation comprises of two different possible worlds and both of them were only in my head until I decided to put a mark on the canvas.
Were there two different realities in the midst of thinking of doing it or not doing it?
Medium:
Metal paint on canvasSize:
each 107 x 107 cm
Foursquare Swarm app
My (Own) World (2022) –
Charcoal, wax pastel and acrylic on unprimed canvas, each 19 x 21 cm
My (Own) World - Linocut Series (2022) –
Linocut prints, each 21 x 29.7 cm
My (Own) World - Charcoal Series (2022) –
Charcoal, wax pastel and acrylic on paper, each 21 x 29.7 cm
For over 5 years, I have used Foursquare Swarm, a mobile app that allows users to record and virtually check-in to places that they have visited before. Recently, the process of contact tracing due to COVID-19 was implemented in most areas. As an initial approach, I analysed the use of maps based on one's memory. I recollected my memory to remember certain journeys that I took – the right and left turns, intersections and the precise way to reach the destinations. In terms of the selection process for mapping, I relied on Foursquare Swarm, in which it records my most visited places.
There may be a point when hesitation enters in the time of remembering a path, resulting in two different possible worlds, and this is where the act of waiting happens.
Canvas Series (2022)
Canvas Series (2022) detail
Sometimes I remember
and sometimes I don’t
I try to recall the directions that I take
but I wait
I pause
and look back
I cover the mistakes
Medium:
Acrylic and metal paint on canvasSize:
each 110 x 110 cm
Paper Series (2022)
Paper Series (2022) detail
During the process of creating Canvas Series (2022), I used paper underneath the canvas to cover the floor space. I realised that whilst I was working on Canvas Series (2022), a history was captured in these 'unintentional' paintings. Accidental marks are left behind. The notion of waiting, of letting the paint dry and set, of thinking which colour should be used next, became part of the process presented in this work.
I wait and I leave
as I create history on paper
waiting
waiting
and waiting
Medium:
Acrylic and metal paint on paperSize:
Dimensions variable
Into the Unknown (2022)
Into the Unknown (2022) detail
Left: Goni
often used for rice sack, sugar and during labour
Middle: Rattan
often used for furnitures
Right: Tikar Pandan
often used in funerals to carry the body before it is placed into the ground
They carry me with the fabric, bringing life into my body
I live and I wait until my time is gone as I wait in my home
and I’ll go into the unknown