(b. 1987, West Sumatra, Indonesia)
Nature has long been an inexhaustible source of inspiration for Fika Ria Santika, shaping both her artistic practice and personal philosophy. Raised in the Minangkabau culture, Santika has always been drawn to the proverb Alam Takambang Jadi Guru (“nature is an eternal teacher”)–this affinity has prompted her artistic explorations as she examines cycles, growth, layers, transitions, and uncertainties through her observations of nature. These elements have profoundly shaped her visual language.
Although Fika derives her creative stimulus from the naturally occurring world and its phenomena – the artist works with, manipulates, and creates compositions out of industrial materials, such as resin and acrylic. In this dichotomy between the natural and the industrial, Fika produces works that are a reflection of her personal intimacy with the natural objects she encounters and the experiences of travel and migration had by the artist through varied cultural and geographical contexts.
Santika’s practice is often inspired by one of the well-known
proverbs of Minang culture, “Alam Takambang Jadi Guru,”
that translates as, “nature is the best teacher.”
— Shaping Geographies : Art | Woman | Southeast Asia (Gajah Gallery, 2019)
Dr. Michelle Antoinette | Dr. Wulan Dirgantoro
Tumpuk Lapis Tampak isi : Laras 10
(Layers That Reveal Matter: Harmony 10)
2023
Resin, Acrylic, Neon Lights
32 x 40 x 37 cm
Through her study of varied materials and their associated properties, Fika Ria Santika is continuously reaching a better understanding of nature’s character. In an attempt to represent “harmony” (laras), as observed in the naturally occurring world, the artist is exploring whether it is possible to create a visual portrayal of “harmony”.
Through the intentional manipulation of material and form, Tumpuk Lapis Tampak isi: Laras 10 (Layers That Reveal Matter: Harmony 10) manages to evoke an organic combination of disparate entities such as hue and shadow.
Tumpuk Lapis Tampak isi : Rona 18
(Layers That Reveal Matter: Hue 18)
2023
Resin, Acrylic, Pigment, Neon Lights
32 x 21 x 23.5 cm
Combining coloured resin and neon light in order to produce varied dimensions of yellow and pink on a multi-dimensional acrylic surface, Tumpuk Lapis Tampak isi : Rona 18 (Layers That Reveal Matter: Hue 18) is based on the observation and characteristics of hue – through an exploration of materials unconventionally used in art. The result is an organic form no longer confined by its materiality or the mundane character of how one might generally perceive the materials presented.
Fika challenges the viewer to consider how these works and subsequently their materials function at different levels.
Dinamika 14
2024
PVC, Braided Rope, Aluminium, LED
350 x 79 x 79 cm
A standout in Fika Ria Santika’s body of work, this large-scale installation traces its roots to the relationship between humans as observers and the surrounding nature. Digital prints, neon LED lights, and strings of black braided rope are either attached to or hung from an imposing raised chandelier. Dinamika 14 (Dynamics 14) is composed of an assemblage that transforms the objects into an artwork that simultaneously explores dynamically and in parallel to her existing visual repertoire and memories.
Ruang Fana: Dinamika 17 (Transient Space: Dynamics 17)
2024
Resin and Polyurethane Paint
77.5 x 102.5 x 5.5 cm
Fika Ria Santika reinterprets the original forms found in her environment, as in Ruang Fana: Dinamika 17 (Transient Space: Dynamics 17), converting them into a new format without losing the essence and emotions inherent in these natural objects.
Organic shapes are combined with the unnatural materiality of resin and colours of Polyurethane paint to give off an impression of artificiality, as the artist skillfully contrasts opposing elements that seem incapable of merging.
For Fika, the impact of merantau is manifest in what has been a process of exploration and experimentation that emerges in her constantly expanding artistic practice.
— Efflorescence: Chong Wei Xin & Fika Ria Santika (Gajah Gallery, 2018)
Katherine Bruhn
Ruang Fana: Dinamika 25
2025
Resin and Polyurethane Paint
99 x 59 cm
Ruang Fana : Dinamika 26
2025
Resin and Polyurethane Paint
100 x 59.5 cm
Nature presents a harmonious composition of contradictions and dualities. As the artist observes the forms of natural objects around her, she concurrently transforms them into new forms – focusing on space, line, and pattern. Present vaguely and implicitly in the folds, layers, and hues of (new work), Fika Ria Santika internalises and processes the forms she has astutely observed and experienced in nature to produce her own personal and compelling visual motif.
Ruang Fana: Dinamika 13
2024
Resin and hydrochrome
54 x 25 cm
50 x 80 cm
74 x 30 cm
21 x 24 cm
Simultaneously evoking a sense of movement while presenting a stable solidity in its mass and materiality, (new work) presents Fika Ria Santika’s paradoxical artistic approach and technique.
Although the artist derives her creative stimulus from organic forms — Fika deliberately works with industrial materials. She eclectically combines these seemingly separate and incompatible aspects of everyday life, creating a series of works that harmonises them in a transcendental manner.
Ruang Fana: Dinamika 24
2025
Resin and Polyurethane Paint
122 x 101 cm
In her work, artist Fika Ria Santika reflects that events in the natural world such as cyclical growth, the changing seasons, and the unpredictability of natural phenomena are integral to the worldview of her ethnic group, the Minangkabau or Minang from West Sumatra, Indonesia.
— Shaping Geographies : Art | Woman | Southeast Asia (Gajah Gallery, 2019)
Dr. Michelle Antoinette | Dr. Wulan Dirgantoro
Untitled
Year
Medium
Size
Colourful – with an almost luminous surface – (new work) is best understood as the visualisation of Fika Ria Santika’s general creative practice by which she has and is constantly examining and deepening her conception of identity.
For Fika, the resulting mesmorising effect of her manipulation of materials serves as a metaphor for her search for self as she attempts to delve into the intangible, the Minangkabau culture, to create something tangible, the work of art.
Ruang Fana: Dinamika 29 & 30
2025
Resin and Polyurethane Paint
30 x 30 cm per piece
By arranging lines and creating space in her works, from movement and shifting, Fika Ria Santika attempts to present a space for viewers to explore and provide an opportunity to reflect thoughts and feelings.
The artist’s creative process mirrors this layered experience, unfolding through different phases of discovery—each resembling a sedimented imprint of her interactions and memories with nature.
Ruang Fana: Dinamika 27 & 28
2025
Resin and Polyurethane Paint
30 x 30 cm per piece
Creamy and smooth, like natural stones, (new work) reenvisions the contours commonly observed in nature, with their inherent movement and rhythm, as a visual motif.
Realized by combining visual motifs observed in nature with materials resulting from industrial goods, the dichotomous yet intimate relationship between nature and human is being considered.