The discourse on the truth of the material provides the access for crafts to enter the art discourse. The representation of a work of art depends on the inherent visual quality of the material. Lately, the possibility for explorations and the associative potentials of a medium have triggered the emergence of material manipulation in the discourses on craft itself. Artists--or rather, artist-craftsmen--begin to take advantages of their technical capability for representing certain interests in their works. In ceramics, qualities such as the capability of the material to imitate various forms, with the fragile, tactile, natural, or even industrial characters of the material, provide the base for the artists to begin manipulating the material.

There are two streams of thoughts in material manipulations. One of them sees manipulation as a part of the possibilities provided by the material capability. The other, meanwhile, sees as the logical consequence of the desire to represent something. Nadya Savitri is more in line with the latter thought. She presents her work based on her intention to represent an object familiar in our lives. For Nadya, matters about technical skills and experiences with materials are of concerns merely within the internal sphere of the artists. They are recognizable only among the artists themselves. For the public eye, the quality of the works at the end depends on the representation of the art obejct itself.

The transformation of daily objects into objects with artistic contexts--in the sense that artists turn daily objects into objects to be appreciated and presented in galleries or museums--is a general art practice. Artists often change, rearrange, compose, or transform objects so that they can gain a new interpretational context. It is therefore difficult to identify art regarding of the medium used.

In such context, works of art whose presentations are based on the materials used, often distinctively appear with their manipulation of objects. Relying on the technical skills of the artist, such works betray very different meanings compared to the works of the artists who tend simply to use "found-object". In her works, Nadya turns a familiar object into an artifact. When viewers recognize the cake in the form of ceramics, the meaning of the familiar object is directly present with very different associations. Such manipulation takes us to an artificial dimension. The world of things becomes a realm of objects that directly puts viewers in the position of the subject. The object itself becomes neutral, and the work becomes open for interpretations.

Nadya's desire to represent a particular idea in her works becomes apparent when she comfortably uses yet other materials to create the impression of a caged object. "I want to depict how we keep a check on our desire for food," explains Nadya. The experience and understanding with the chosen material turn out to mean also sensitivity with the material's associations with other things. They also provide the artist with the ability to make use of these associations. Nadya's background as an artist working with ceramics does actually not constrain her to use only some particular material.

Nurdian Ichsan

Born on December 5, 1981.
Studied at Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Bandung (2003).

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2000 "Exhibition of the Fundamental Year of Fine Art and Design Faculty (FSRD), ITB", Sasana Budaya Ganesha Building, ITB, Bandung.

EXPERIENCES
2002 "Glass Blowing" with Yoshihiko Takahashi and Manuel Castro, Fabriek Gallery, Bandung.
2003 Workshop of Japanese Traditional Ceramic Tehnique, Raku, Student Of Ceramic Studio, FSRD, ITB.

PERFORMANCES
1999 On The Closing Ceremony of KMSRI (Indonesia Fine Art Students Congress), East Hall, ITB, Bandung.
2000 On "ITB Art Fair", ITB, Bandung.

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