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02.    She Blooms in Colors

Anggrek Agency is pleased to present Yen Melia Andreas in her first solo show and her first show in Europe, She Blooms in Colors.

Yen Melia Andreas (Indonesian, *1996) completed her Bachelor of Architecture degree before rediscovering her passion for art as a means to express her personal experiences. After graduating from Parahyangan Catholic University, Andreas enrolled in a year-long online fine art program at the Milan Art Institute. Her artistic journey continued as she joined the Atreyu Moniaga Project, an art incubator program, where she further honed her skills and developed her unique artistic voice.

Trained with the precision of an architect and with other artistic skills she picked up from the streets rather than formal art education, Andreas paints beautiful female figures in an oriental style that reflects her experiences, including her struggles to carve out her space within society. Her work serves as a reminder to appreciate one’s growth, to navigate trust issues with others, and to cherish simple moments in life, such as living in the present and enjoying the beauty of all seasons.

This solo show, consisting of seven watercolors framed with museum glass by the wonderful people at Geiser Rahmen, is intended as the first in a series. It will be followed by a three-person show emphasizing the use of figurative language in paintings, in which Andreas and two other artists will show their work on canvas.

Please join us at the opening reception of She Blooms in Colors, with the artist in attendance, on Friday 5th April 2024, from 18:00 to 22:00.

The show runs until Wednesday, May 15, 2024, and will be followed by the second part of the series, In a Land of Hope and Dreams, from May 17 to June 29, 2024.



She Blooms in Colors

Written by Venerdi Handoyo

It is springtime for the seeds of numerous flowers that Yen Melia Andreas has quietly gathered throughout her life and planted in her own garden over the past few years. These seeds were initially collected in her hometown, a city in North Sumatra, Indonesia, where she was born into a society still steeped in archaic values that favored sons over daughters. The misogynistic repression was compounded by her Chinese descent, making her part of a minority in the country.

In the remote city of Pangkalan Kerinci, Yen and her family took the first steps towards breaking free from societal confinements by collecting another batch of seeds. Living in Bali and Bandung during the subsequent stages of her life exposed her to an even wider variety of seeds—those of self-discovery, dreams, and artistic expressions.

Since 2020, Yen, now based in Jakarta, has entered the main chapter of her life. Leaving behind her career as an architect, she now channels her creativity through fluid brush strokes on canvas, juxtaposing striking contrasts of subdued colors. In this process, she releases the bottled-up energy she has long harnessed, often in solitude. Perseverance, liberation, and independence are richly manifested, blossoming around female figures adorned with thin lips and sharp, slanted eyes.

Her determination is stronger than the intergenerational repressions she has faced. Yen has won her battles without raising her voice. Her power is subtle, her resilience quiet.

Through her artistic pursuits, Yen has found a voice to express her innermost thoughts and emotions, channeling her energy into creating striking works of art that reflect themes of perseverance, liberation, and independence. Despite facing intergenerational repressions and being a minority, Yen has triumphed quietly, showing the transformative power of self-discovery and artistic expression.

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