Born in Lampung, 1996

The surrealist paintings of Fandi (b.1996, Lampung) are deeply inspired by his childhood memories in the village, where he likes to play with elements of nature. In his artistic exploration, Fandi sees how human relationships are similar to symbiosis in nature, particularly how each interaction can have a good or sometimes bad influence. Fandi distorts or invents imaginary creatures in his work to represent how a child’s mind can perceive nature as magical. He invites the audience to guess what living things they see in his works. This way, his works are a dynamic space for the audience to imagine and lose their focus—to become a child again for a moment. Child-like characters with larger heads than their bodies symbolize people who faced difficult problems early in childhood. They embody people forced to grow up psychologically faster their bodies cannot catch up. Their childhood is taken away, and the void left is replaced by responsibilities for themselves and their families.