Ardi Gunawan Indonesian, b. 1983
Natural history of blob and other emotional innovation #2, 2026
Mixed media on canvas (framed)
47 x 51 cm
I used to paint the audience as a background, but in this work they move to the front. The painting gathers a crowd of blob-like faces that pile and overlap...
I used to paint the audience as a background, but in this work they move to the front. The painting gathers a crowd of blob-like faces that pile and overlap in dense, saturated color, where no single figure fully stands on its own. Coming from a process-based approach—gesture, chance, and material—these faces begin to feel familiar, echoing expressions we see in memes, GIFs, and everyday image culture around Cirendeu, Ciputat Timur. As a crowd, they are no longer individuals but a field of expressions that can be quickly read, almost like signs. It feels immediate, even a bit shallow at first, but through repetition and overlap, a different kind of density starts to form.