Amber Kusuma aka Ambar Kusuma Wardhani (b. Papua, 1978, lives in Yogyakarta Indonesia), she is an interdisciplinary artist, designer & guest lecturer in the field of fashion & art. She studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Indonesian Institute of Arts & ESMOD Jakarta. In 2019 she founded Revofash Upcycling Lab which experimenting textile waste. In 2023 she was nominated as the first national Top 7 Runner Up Circular Fashion Incubator (ICFI) in Indonesia by Hollit International. Amber was also appointed as a mentor and trainer for traditional weaving communities and MSMEs in Indonesia. From 2021 until now she has been invited to teach at several universities regarding sustainable lifestyles, art and fashion.

Amber has been actively working as an artist since 2018 until now and her focus is on utilizing waste materials, especially textiles, into various media. The narrative raises themes related to nature & the environment, human behavior & traces of cultural history. Her recent art exhibition took place at the Jakarta National Gallery 30 April-16 May 2024 with the women's collective Empu Gampingan and highlighted the water source canal which is a local history of the struggle of Yogyakarta's people as her upcycled hanging tapestry work.

MENGALIR SAUJANA

Amber Kusuma

200 X 180 X 10 cm

Tapestry on wasted textiles

National Gallery Indonesia, Jakarta

2024

FLOWING SAUJANA

I grew up in an agrarian, green village, with rice fields and agricultural fields, rich in fertile soil and clear water, accompanied by stretches of water besides rivers, which also flow endlessly in a long canal called the Mataram/Yoshihiro Ditch with traces of meaningful stories. in-depth for local communities in Yogyakarta and surrounding areas. Tells the story of the spread of a stream of water that looks saujana and abundant. The blessings of this universe do not just appear suddenly, but rather through a long and full period of struggle. The water canal was built by Sri Sultan HB IX in 1942 to get around the Japanese colonialists in preventing thousands of their people from romusha work. Apart from that, the benefits were also very valuable and promising for the colonialists at that time, namely a fertile crop of secondary crops, replacing cassava which only grew in dry, arid lands. Water is one of the main elements that maintains the balance of the earth which is very vital, valuable for every life and the lives of all its creatures. The power of the meeting of two large water sources, namely the Progo River and the Opak River, unites & drains barren and thirsty land,...becoming fertile and prosperous, the benefits of which are felt to this day. Saujana flows, flowing as far as the eye can see like a living legend which has a psycho-mystical dimension according to the predictions mentioned by Sunan Kalijaga and also King Jayabaya in the past.

An epic, heroic but at the same time tragic story full of sadness that needs to continue to be echoed and conveyed to the next generation, so that our nature, water and land remain sustainable. I visualize it through woven threads that show hard work, dedication, bonds of brotherhood, natural relief, land and water. as well as the spirit and ideas of "liberation" that bounce and surge until they are able to break through a confinement in a dynamic way like a web that weaves up, down and knots tightly.

This work is being exhibited in Building D @galerinasional until May 16, in the women's collective exhibition by @empu_gampingan entitled #TEMPATAN.

PLAZA INDONESIA JAKARTA

TITLE: "NON-TOXIC FRIENDS"

MIX MEDIA ON CANVAS ( WASTE TEXTILES, CHARCOAL & ACRYLIC PAINT)

6 PANELS @ 40 x 50 cm

2023

STARDUST HUMAN

2022, Mission X Project, Indonesia Ufo Fest, Galeri IFI LIP Yogyakarta

Upcycled ArtWear mixed of upcycled plastic, electronica circuit, digital imaging

variable dimension

SET TO NO BOUNDARIES

Wadon, Benteng Vredeburg, Yogyakarta 2022, Empu Collective

Installation Upcycled Mix Media

Variable dimension

Mengosongkan, dan mengisi.

Aku memberikan kebebasan kepadamu untuk berinteraksi dalam ruang kosong, untuk meletakkan semua mimpi mimpi dan tujuan hidupmu, dalam frame pakaian apapun yang hendak kamu kenakan.

Sebuah konsep dimana kita sering berlari tanpa jeda, dan disini kita diberi ruang berhenti sejenak tuk refleksi melihat dan menghargai keberadaan diri kita

PEMEAN TALKS

Collective Collegia South Korea, 2022, Empu Collective

collagues textiles mix drawing (Mix Media) on Digital

Variable dimension

Pemean is an informal language in the Javanese idiom, which means clothesline (eng.). Usually in the daily life of rural communities or villages in densely populated cities, this activity becomes a unique way of manual drying clothes. the demands of life's routines in maintaining personal hygiene, expressions of love and concern for family members, until finally they can become an antidote to routine boredom by meeting, gathering to greet each other, giving the latest news, so that it can be the beginning of mutual cooperation or even division. Depending on the personal attitude of the individuals who are mostly domestic women, all levels from age to roles in the household that accompany them. How boisterous!