A Day in the Life: Ykha Amelz
The Riso You Wanna See in Your Room
By Ykha Amelz, with Nabila Giovanna W
‘A Day in the Life’ is a series by A&M where we invite artists to share a day in their life through images accompanied by brief descriptions.
Ykha Amelz.
Ykha Amelz is an Indonesian illustrator whose works have adorned clothing, print media and buildings. Formerly educated as an architect, she eventually ventured into becoming a freelance illustrator and making cartoon-like drawings that draw inspiration from movies, music and her two French bulldogs, Babbot and Botzilla. For this month’s ‘A Day in the Life’ story, Ykha takes us behind the scenes of her recent group exhibition ‘The Riso You Wanna See in Your Room’.
‘The Riso You Wanna See in Your Room’, 2023, installation view. Image courtesy of the artist and C on Temporary.
As you can see from the exhibition's title alone, all of the installations are designed to resemble corners from actual rooms to provide the audience with a familiar feeling and establish a direct connection to the art prints.
‘The Riso You Wanna See in Your Room’, 2023, installation view. Image courtesy of the artist and C on Temporary.
Here is another corner of the exhibition, where you can take a closer look at the 'Wide Awake' (2023) riso print.
Ykha Amelz, ‘Wide Awake’, 2023, work in progress. Image courtesy of the artist.
I began working on the illustration by creating a digital sketch.
Ykha Amelz’s working space. Image courtesy of the artist.
I usually draw a digital piece like this with Procreate and use Photoshop afterwards for colour adjustment.
Ykha Amelz.
‘Wide Awake’ (2023) was inspired by my personal experience of struggling with sleep, and finding solace in a cup of hot green tea during the wee hours of the night.
Follow Ykha Amelz on Instagram to see more of her daily routine.
Ykha Amelz’s artworks are currently on display in ‘The Riso You Wanna See in Your Room’ exhibition at C on Temporary, Bandung, Indonesia from 1 to 29 July 2023. Click here to read more.
Read other ‘A Day in the Life’ stories here.
About the Artist
Ykha, a 2D artist, is known for her creation of the 'Babbot' French bulldog character. With a portfolio spanning traditional and digital media since 2008, she has collaborated with major brands to bring her vibrant universe of nostalgic, cartoon characters to life.
