Ella Wijt, Ruth Marbun and Nabila Giovanna
By A&M

Ruth Marbun, Ella Wijt and Nabila Giovanna.

Key Points:

Working in a small space requires compromise and hinders certain aspirations, but ultimately spurs efficiency and inspires creativity.
Residencies offer environments different from the usual studio spaces, and brings forth new artistic expressions.
The space and the people in the space are both crucial to the health of one’s artistic practice.

Art & Market’s Annual Conference LANDING continued with the third panel discussion titled: “Creative Coordinates: A Dialogue Between Space and Art” on 28 October at Art Agenda Jakarta.

This panel was moderated by Art & Market Content Manager Nabila Giovanna, with panelists artist Ella Wijt and visual artist Ruth Marbun. During the discussion, they talked about how their working spaces inspire and shape their creative outputs.

Here are the key takeaways from the panel:

Ella Wijt’s studio. Image courtesy of the artist.

Ruth Marbun’s studio. Image courtesy of the artist.

Working in a small space requires compromise and hinders certain aspirations, but ultimately spurs efficiency and inspires creativity. Ella and Ruth’s studio are located in Bandung and Jakarta, two major cities in Indonesia. Land is limited and they both have to make do with relatively small studio spaces within their houses. After moving away from her spacious studio in Depok, Ella now calls her bedroom in her Bandung house, which measures 3m by 2.5m, her “emergency” studio space. Although the space is tiny, she finds advantage in being able to reach all the materials within her studio easily. Her works have become more intimate too. She was inspired to create ‘Domestic Emotions: A Home Within Me’ (2023) for ARTJOG 2023. The installation comprises small, household objects that signifies the connection she has with her home. As for Ruth, her studio occupies a space right across her bedroom. She too finds advantage in working with limited space. As an example, it necessitated/inspired the tight layout of her works for 'GUMUL; Segenap Kandidat' (2023) at ARTJOG 2023, and her recent solo exhibition ‘Perangai’ (2023) at Artsphere Gallery, which saw works hung and placed at various locations within each exhibition space, in harmony with each other.

Residencies offer environments different from the usual studio spaces, and brings forth new artistic expressions. In 2019, Ruth participated in a studio-based residency at Rimbun Dahan in Selangor, Malaysia. The place was an hour away from Kuala Lumpur and it was surrounded by nature. The environment’s colours seeped into her consciousness, and resulted in works that utilise an earthy colour palette. In 2020, she also took part in a residency at AGA LAB in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The experience at AGA LAB put her in closer touch with her senses, and pushed her to think of new possibilities in her work. Last month, Ella recently was on a residency at Horanggasy Creative Studio in Seoul, South Korea. When she arrived, it was still summer and she saw many plastic flower boards on the streets. While she typically does not like to use plastic in her work, she started to think about how plastic waste could be upcycled into new works. These were well-received by visitors who came by to see her finished work. Adaptation is no stranger to Ella and Ruth, as they have both had experience living and working outside of their usual spaces. Both artists acknowledge that changes can be fun and that they should capitalise on the inevitable pain that comes from change, such as moving, in order to be more productive and move forward.

Ella Wijt, ‘Domestic Emotions: A Home Within Me’, 2023, ARTJOG 2023. Image courtesy of the artist.

Ruth Marbun, 'GUMUL; Segenap Kandidat', 2023, ARTJOG 2023. Image courtesy of the artist.

The space and the people who inhabit it are both crucial to the health of one’s artistic practice. When asked what an ideal working space for them looked like, the artists shared the idea that it is not only the physical space that matters, but also the people within it. Ella believes that we are moulded by the people we talk to, and she finds that her current community has been supportive of her work. She is also sharing a living space with her husband, fellow artist Kurt D. Peterson and writer and art manager Ibrahim Soetomo, and they have both given her lots of inspiration, from sound works from Kurt to writings from Ibrahim. The trio gather frequently to share ideas, and these exchanges have had a significant impact on her practice. Ruth echoes the same sentiment and emphasises organic connections with the people in her life and how they can influence and collaborate with each other.