Born in Yogyakarta and graduated from the Faculty of Art and Design at the Institute of Technology Bandung, Kemal Ezedine has made Bali his home since 2011.

He creates artwork through automatic drawing; it emerges instinctively from his knowledge as an artist, rather than being a direct representation of what he sees. As he often says, he works without a sketch. He directly drew the Lidah Lokal ceiling upside down using scaffolding, reminiscent of Michelangelo’s work on the Sistine Chapel.

“Drawing is the medium through which my lines form a narrative. The shift from the ‘sigar mangsi’ gradation of black to a gradation of line thickness represents my individuation, while the composition of figures, held together with decorative patterns, provides an opportunity for viewers to read into the details,” explains Kemal Ezedine.