Originally scheduled for April 2025, the residency was postponed to September due to funding delays. The adjustment, however, proved timely. It coincided with B-Side Festival 2025, a major annual art event on the Isle of Portland, United Kingdom, allowing the project to unfold within a vibrant public context.
During the festival, two public workshops were held under the title Batik Wax Imprints: A Reflection on Our Changing World. Participants were invited to reflect on visible and invisible transformations in their surroundings, from the disappearance of familiar plants to the rise of new buildings and shifting community dynamics. Each person created two works: Across the Sea Postcard, representing a message or memory to send outward, and A Memory to Keep, a personal batik piece to preserve.
These sessions evolved into open conversations about environmental transitions and the role of art in safeguarding memory. What began as a technical introduction to batik became a shared reflection on change, belonging, and continuity.
A dialogue between two wax traditions
Throughout the residency, daily collaboration took place with encaustic artist Lyn Kirkland, who served as both mentor and creative partner. The exchange centred on two ancient wax-based art forms: Indonesian batik and encaustic painting.
The primary aim was to study encaustic methods in depth, while Lyn explored how the canting tool, traditionally used in batik, might be integrated into her encaustic process. As the days progressed, the collaboration expanded beyond technique into a meaningful dialogue on environmental fragility.
Stories from Jakarta, including the New Year’s Eve flood of 2020 that inundated a home for the first time, and ongoing health challenges such as acute rhinitis caused by prolonged exposure to polluted air, revealed how environmental degradation directly shapes daily life. Lyn shared parallel concerns from the Isle of Portland, where coastal erosion, quarrying, and debates over waste incineration continue to affect the landscape and community.
Although separated by thousands of kilometres, both islands shared a common vulnerability. This realisation informed the artistic process, emphasising how global ecological concerns connect distant geographies.
Material knowledge and sustainable practice
A significant outcome of the residency was in-depth technical training in encaustic practice. One important insight was that essential encaustic materials, beeswax and dammar resin, can be sourced locally and sustainably in Indonesia.
This discovery strengthened the initiative of Encaustic Indonesia, which promotes sustainable wax-based art practices using Indonesian natural materials. At the same time, Lyn’s engagement with the canting tool expanded her approach to encaustic painting. Together, the exploration focused on how wax lines could function not merely as a resist technique, but as a permanent visual language.
The merging of these traditions became a tangible expression of cultural dialogue through a shared medium.
Challenges and community engagement
The process was not without challenges. The high cost and limited availability of encaustic materials restricted experimentation during and after the residency. To address this, small-scale workshops were conducted in Indonesia with a maximum of five participants per session.
These focused sessions allowed for hands-on instruction while managing material costs. For many participants, this was their first encounter with encaustic techniques, marking an early step toward building awareness of the medium within Indonesian artistic contexts.
