Yunizar’s entry into sculptural practices was prompted by his co-founding of Gajah Gallery’s Yogya Art Lab in 2012. Despite this alternative artistic route, Yunizar’s sculptural practice cannot be seen as separate from his painting practice as the artist constantly reviews his own paintings for topics and subjects suitable for sculptural representations. In Ayam Mutiara, one of Yunizar’s recurrent bird-figures finds its way from his paintings to his sculpture and the affinities between the artist’s sculptural and painting practices can be clearly seen: the repetition of lines and forms that he uses in his paintings finds its way to the sculpture to create texture, detail and shape, which in turn captures the whimsical qualities of Yunizar’s cast of imaginative creatures originally on canvas.
Against the sculpture’s solidity and size, Yunizar’s sculptures remain unpretentious and down-to-earth as he chooses subject matters that are rooted in his own perception of everyday life. Believing in the relevancy of mundane personal expressions, Yunizar deliberately avoids overly-lofty subjects and steers his art away from socio-political issues despite them being the driving force for many Indonesian artists today.
