Etza Meisyara
2017 Bandung Contemporary Art Award recipient
By Ian Tee
Etza Meisyara, 'Pursuit of the Horizon', 2018, photo etching, patina on copper plate, 100 x 100cm. Image courtesy of Lawangwangi Creative Space.
Born in 1991 in Bandung, Indonesia, Etza Meisyara is interested in art's potential to express humanist values. Her foray into visual art was through the Intermedia Art Studio programme at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), where she graduated with a Masters in Art in 2016. Etza continues to infuse her childhood passion in music through projects that combine sound art, installation and performance. She has participated in group presentations such as ARTJOG MMXIX 'Arts in Common' (Yogyakarta, Indonesia), 'AURORA' (Liverpool, England, 2018) and the 2016 KLANG KUNST Sound Art Festival (Braunschweig, Germany). In 2017, Etza was a recipient of the fifth Bandung Contemporary Art Award (BaCaa), a biannual art prize presented by ArtSociates and Lawangwangi Art Space. Past BaCaa winners include Aditya Novali and Syaiful Aulia Garibaldi.
Etza Meisyara, 'Rhythm of Tragedy', 2020, live performance on the occasion of 'Locus Pocus', Basment 90's Kitchen Bar, Bandung, Indonesia. Image courtesy of Convert Textured.
Work process of copper plates on the beach in La Rochelle, 2018. Photo taken during artist residency at La Rochelle, France. Image courtesy of the artist.
Inspired by printmaking classes during her study exchange in Germany, Etza's recent works explore the alchemical qualities of copper etching plates. 'Pursuit of the Horizon' (2018) is an example which combines photo etching techniques with chemical processes, to create a luminous landscape scene. For the artist, this oxidation process is akin to the release of emotions. The negative charge that produces vibrant hues on the metal surface is a metaphor for feelings of melancholia spurred by being away from home.
In a series made during her residency in the French port city of La Rochelle, Ezta dipped the etching plates into the sea, allowing sea salt and ammonia to react with the etched image. It was a response to the tsunami and earthquake that happened in Palu and Selat Sunda, Indonesia. Unexpected changes, dramatic transformation, as well as human's relationship with nature are captured on these surfaces.
Click here to read our conversation with Etza, where she speaks about the importance of residencies for material exploration and the opportunities that came after receiving the 2017 Bandung Contemporary Art Award.
