Amnesia, 2015 (This work was donated to the permanent collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program in 2022)
Melati Suryodarmo born in 1969, Solo, Indonesia. She currently lives and works between Gross Gleidingen, Germany and Solo, Indonesia.
Melati Suryodarmo graduated from the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunscheweig, Germany under the tutelage of Marina Abramović and Anzu Furukawa with a Meisterschüler qualification in Performance Art. Her practice is informed by Butoh, dance and history, among others. Her work is the result of ongoing research in the movements of the body and its relationship to the self and the world. These are enshrined in photography, translated into choreographed dances, enacted in video or executed in live performances.
Suryodarmo is interested in the psychological and physical agitations that may be from the self or the world but somehow result in lasting change in the individual. This belief in change or growth through bodily action belies her early induction in meditation, which she continues to practice. The body is the home for memories and the self, rather than the individual itself, and the body’s system. The way the body translates internal and external ideas enriches the attitude and thoughts of the self. Meeting Furukawa, an accomplished Butoh practitioner, had opened her eyes on the expressive qualities of the body, a form of communication that transcends verbal language. This experience has motivated her lifelong studies into Butoh and other artistic forms concerned with the human body.
Melati Suryodarmo graduated from the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunscheweig, Germany under the tutelage of Marina Abramović and Anzu Furukawa with a Meisterschüler qualification in Performance Art. Her practice is informed by Butoh, dance and history, among others. Her work is the result of ongoing research in the movements of the body and its relationship to the self and the world. These are enshrined in photography, translated into choreographed dances, enacted in video or executed in live performances.
Suryodarmo is interested in the psychological and physical agitations that may be from the self or the world but somehow result in lasting change in the individual. This belief in change or growth through bodily action belies her early induction in meditation, which she continues to practice. The body is the home for memories and the self, rather than the individual itself, and the body’s system. The way the body translates internal and external ideas enriches the attitude and thoughts of the self. Meeting Furukawa, an accomplished Butoh practitioner, had opened her eyes on the expressive qualities of the body, a form of communication that transcends verbal language. This experience has motivated her lifelong studies into Butoh and other artistic forms concerned with the human body.
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