Ulang Tahun ke-3, ke-17 & ke-21, 2023
Oil on canvas
82 x 113 cm
Though Ulang Tahun means birthday, I intended on having it be a play on words, with it directly meaning “year repetition”. As the year passes by and the body grows taller, the inner child within me remains the same in its naiveté and wonder. Anniversaries of events and happenings that occurred beyond my control made each candle I blew feel awkward and foreign every single time. I wanted to portray the sense of detachment with growing age that is hard to grasp, especially with the unresolved part of oneself that refuses to let go of the past. The three figures represent me in three pivotal moments of my life; my childhood, my youth and my adulthood, celebrating my birthday in constant repetition with mixed feelings for my growing age.
