Sari Sedana has been dedicated to the production of Balinese Batik for over three decades. Our new division, Red Thread, aims to elevate traditional Batiks by infusing them with a contemporary touch that resonates with modern society, while maintaining a strong connection to Indonesian artists and culture. During our journey, we had the privilege of crossing paths with the talented Javanese Indonesian artist, Chairol Imam.
SPECIAL EDITION
RED THREAD X CHAIROL IMAM
Our introduction to Chairol Imam’s batik creations occurred at Kopi Bali House, where we were captivated by his distinctive and innovative indigo-dyed fabric adorned with charming cartoons and drawings, meticulously crafted with a batik wax pen. Despite our primary focus on Batik Printing, we recognized the potential for collaboration.
Our vision is to create batik garments that reflect everyday Indonesian cultural references, fostering a sense of relatability with the imagery and content. While still in the conceptualization phase of this journey, the collaboration with Chairol Imam serves as an inspiring starting point for bringing this vision to life.
MEET CHAIROL IMAM, AN ARTIST IN INDONESIA
Chairol Imam is a batik artist from Indonesia. His work tends to depict monsters and lines that are inspired by observing his surroundings and put into his work. He told us about his journey to enter the world of batik.
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How did you first get into the world of art?
I used to study at a fine arts high school (SMA). At that time, I also worked with Griya Logam and started playing with motifs. After that, I went on to university. I studied at Sebelas Maret University. When I was in college, I was interested in exploring many things, such as sculpture and painting. The tendency of the characters that I often depict are monsters and the main basis of my work is lines. I became interested in making batik because I had explored using paint several times, and was not satisfied. For example, when I used pink or green to draw lines, the color didn’t appear. But when I used batik, the colors really stood out. There I found my own satisfaction. There are many line elements that I use in batik. The motifs in my batik are character shapes that I have cultivated since college. That’s how I first got involved in the world of fine arts, using the medium of batik.
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Where does the inspiration come from?
The inspiration comes from my daily life. In the past, I was taught to deform shapes, to manipulate shapes so they don’t look ordinary. So the original form is changed, such as being developed, damaged, or simplified. I play by those principles. The shapes are inspired by everyday things, like seeing animals around me, like seeing chickens, seeing fish, even very abstract shapes, distortions that don’t exist in the real world. The influence is from things I often see. Animal shapes and maybe even some objects.
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Of all the art media you have tried, which is the most interesting?
It’s all interesting because all art mediums have their own tendencies and uniqueness. Batik is interesting to me because there is a technical journey that I don’t get with other mediums. To paint with wax you have to be prepared and extra aware because when I’m just a little careless, it’s not uncommon my body to be hit by very hot drops of wax, it’s in that moment I come back to my senses and focus. Making batik also requires patience and is quite a time-consuming process, especially the batik tulis that I make.
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In your opinion, do artists have a moral responsibility to address social issues, especially in Indonesia?
It’s necessary, all work must have a message.
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Do you try to convey that message in your art? What’s an example like?
I often work with autobiographies, so I often talk about myself to reveal something that is outside, for example like my batik on Instagram. Actually, I made a series titled Garden in Imagination which raised the problem that during the pandemic, we couldn’t leave the house. We didn’t interact with people enough, we couldn’t enjoy meetings outside. So, I made batik works with the monsters in my head. During the pandemic, I seemed to replace these meetings by creating monster characters. I liked making a garden full of monsters. The social issues that I bring up are similar to that.
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While making batik, are there any challenges?
My batik still uses artificial dyes, chemical dyes. My real challenge is, I still can’t use natural dyes. I’m aware of our ecological impact on the future, but my exploration has not taken me to using natural dyes. So I took a break from making batik on fabric and explored other materials, one of which was batik on metal.
“Just FYI, at Red Thread, we want to focus on sustainability when using dyes for batik. Even though we use conventional dyes, we still process the waste water to remove the color and treat it to a pH of 7.7 before being returned to nature”
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Is there a special color for batik from the city of Solo?
The majority of batiks in Solo are brown.
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Have you ever been to the Danar Hadi museum in Solo?
Yes, occasionally. It’s cool, but the development of visual batik motifs and designs is quite slow compared to visual works of fine art painting.
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Yeah, we agree. Mas Chairol, in your opinion, is there currently a market for batik with a more modern style? Or do you think our society tends to choose conventional or traditional batik with old designs?
In fact, our people are waiting for a batik market whose motifs are more modern and more contemporary. Moreover, market segments such as taste always develop according to the times. Certainly young people are waiting for more contemporary products with colors that aren’t just brown!