Spatial Experiences in Bunga Yuridespita's Solo Exhibition
For Bunga Yuridespita, space embodies an enduring experience and knowledge. Having traversed through education and work in architecture before choosing to become a visual artist, Bunga perceives both architecture and visual arts as exploration, discovery, and the construction of expressive mediums. Beyond painting, Bunga engages in mural work and creates video art as parts of her installations showcased at Galeri Salihara, Jakarta.
Space intertwines with Bunga Yuridespita's life experiences, especially her childhood, and the challenges she faces today. The compositions of colors in her paintings construct spatial arrangements formed by colorful shapes. Bunga is not only captivated by and deeply involved in imagining space within architectural logic but also by her bodily experiences within architectural spaces. She also speaks of the complexity of forms she observes in spatial details. Her background in architecture sensitizes Bunga to appreciate and comprehend the diverse characteristics and surfaces of various materials: stone, cement, glass, iron, tin, or plastic. Bunga understands that the character of a medium is a crucial element in constructing her expressive works.
Common Sanctum is the theme Bunga chose to establish in her solo exhibition. For Bunga, the issue of space is increasingly pressed upon by the acceleration of time's flow; contemporary societal experiences seem to progress within the logic of time acceleration relentlessly: everything becomes fast, even to the point of instantaneity. The matter of spatial experience, which should bind dimensions of meanings regarding identity and existence, seems to vanish amidst the current change driven by the logic of acceleration. All that is virtual now no longer holds the potential value that could signify something unique to individuals but has become a realm of possibilities that, in practice, only serve as preferential choices that can even be illusory. In this exhibition, Bunga does not seek to juxtapose actual space with virtual space but rather to reclaim the potential of virtual elements to become parts of conscious and meaningful lived possibilities.
Common Sanctum is also an effort to revive the sensation of spatial experience. This exhibition is not just about creating illusions of space but also about evoking the sensation of spatial dimensions that are expected to enliven imaginative experiences and consciousness. In urban environments, in big cities like Jakarta, various forms of space are merely prepared for the interests of those within: for work, shopping, or recreation; space becomes an object. Bunga aims to reestablish space as the subject. Space is meant to be expressed in its distinctive qualities. Space transforms people, not the other way around. The notion of "sanctum" in this project is not intended to carry negative connotations but rather to have positive and productive characteristics, even being provocative and transformative. For Bunga, every existence will always entail being within space. Such spaces should not merely be objects within the confines of functional and practical interests. Space is a matter of experience and knowledge that will never cease, just as it is for every existence.
The Common Sanctum exhibition is an initiative by Bunga Yuridespita and is organized by Can's Gallery, with Galeri Salihara as the exhibition venue partner. This exhibition not only showcases artworks within the walls of Galeri Salihara but also includes murals on the outer walls of Salihara. PT Mowilex Indonesia supports the mural works as a partner in mural material production. Visitors have the opportunity to witness Bunga's works from outside the walls of Salihara to within the exhibition space. The exhibition will run until April 3, 2024.
