Flora, Figures, and Folklore in Liffi Wongso’s Solo Exhibition
If you find yourself visiting Yogyakarta this holiday season, make time to stop by Srisasanti Gallery to experience Odyssey: Hearth & Mire, a solo exhibition by Liffi Wongso. Open to the public from 6 December 2025 to 18 January 2026 at Tirtodipuran Link Building A, Yogyakarta, the exhibition marks a reflective journey through Liffi’s inner landscape—one that unfolds between comfort and unease. It is a deeply personal “odyssey” rooted in everyday moments that often go unnoticed.
The exhibition title brings together two contrasting sensations: “hearth”, referring to the warmth and sense of safety found within the home; and “mire”, which evokes the bodily experience of coming into contact with soil or mud–sticky, heavy, damp, and situated outdoors. The tension between these two states becomes Liffi’s space of exploration, articulating the experience of existing “in between.”
Drawing inspiration from ancient Western fairy tales and folklore, Liffi’s works present hybrid flora reminiscent of layered botanical illustrations. Flowers, leaves, fungi, tendrils, and branches grow freely, inhabited by slender figures with elongated limbs that merge with roots and petals. She also engages with the myth of the Huldufólk, hidden beings from Icelandic and Faroese folklore, as a metaphor for parallel forms of existence that are often overlooked. Liffi’s images move in non-linear ways, suggesting small, quiet narratives that unfold in the margins, rather than grand tales or tragedies.
Liffi Wongso is an artist and illustrator who began her practice by drawing her dreams. Growing up as an only child, illustration became her way of expressing personal emotions and experiences. Her fascination with the shapes and colors of plants in nature is strongly reflected in her work, where flowers and leaves often function as extensions of her femininity. Through depictions of young maidens set within natural landscapes and rendered in a vibrant color palette, Liffi combines influences from contemporary illustration and manga into a distinctive visual language.
Odyssey: Hearth & Mire is open to visitors from Tuesday to Sunday, 1 to 8 PM (WIB). A limited-edition exhibition catalogue is available at the gallery.
