Artist Statement

Ratu Rizkitasari Saraswati (b. 1990) uses storytelling, performance, and photography to engage with people to nurture empathetic relationships. In her practice, she examines the nature of human aggression and reparation, attempting to find balance by actively anticipating and sensing into real-life encounters. Her works are the result of continuous reflections upon her sense of selfhood and taking a position in diverse conditions.

She processes traumatic experiences through attunement with other living beings in the landscape she inhabits. While inviting the interpersonal values of art, she thoroughly observes the archive of the everyday by unfolding the intersections of personal experience and collective narratives. Her observations elaborate on webs of human relationships, historical events, and transformative natural processes. Growing from the sense of care, her art attempts to subversively pollinate resilience amid today’s increasing intolerance and discrimination. Oscillating between what appears public and what remains private, she uses the artistic endeavours she believes are conductive to human wellness to create a sincere common ground within the realm of the psyche.