Ken ✶ Syakira

• statement
• works and process
• critical reflection
• context
• proposals
  
• journal
  

UNIT 1




✶ info
✶ instagram
syakiraken@gmail.com

Seka-seka (2025)

UNIT 2 SRS

Seka-seka (Indonesian: to wipe, to clean) is my initial test piece in incorporating water-based media into my practice early this year. While still considering the idea of perishing and impermanence, I am slowly drawn to the idea of bodies of water, informed through my concurrently running residency program, where we discussed the distance between Toronto and London, separated only by the Atlantic Ocean. Previously, I explored personal themes through my daily commute by using it as a metaphor for a transitional state. I perceive water as having a similar transformative quality to that of drawing on calico in how it will naturally degrade over time. Water allows for ideas of cleansing to be further highlighted which is relevant for this work.

Moving from ‘commute’; as a metaphor from my previous artwork, to ‘water’ in depicting a transitional state, I began to integrate water-based medium to further emphasize water’s unique characteristics in my practice. Working with water-based pigments on fabric presents a unique challenge on its own compared to the precision of pencil colors. Despite the control that pencil colors provide, it does not adhere to calico as effectively as water-based pigments. I gravitated towards the interplay in combining these two mediums. By gradually adding water, it washes yet simultaneously enhances the strokes of the pencil color, and how they interact with each other based on their varying degrees of control.


While making this piece, I came to the realization that drawing a less polished, fragmented approach would better highlight the blurring and wash effects inherent in water-based media. Overly controlled strokes result in a rigid appearance, and thus was unable to showcase these characteristics effectively.

As I explored this newly integrated medium in my practice, I realized how the tension yet (mostly) harmony of pencil color and water-based medium mirrors my perception between the subconscious and conscious. It led me to conceptualize bodies of water further as thresholds that simultaneously divide and connect the subconscious and conscious realms. 

Comments I got during the Silent Crit (10/03):



This piece evokes the intimacy of diary entries, offering a glimpse into the artist’s recollection and everyday life. The introduction of water media into her practice is particularly effective towards the drawing on the right, which accentuates the figure embodying transformation and ambiguity. Despite this, the overall feeling remains tranquil and fluid.

©MMXXVken syakiraall rights reserved.