Putri Duyung & Ikan Merah indicates the evolution of Yunizar’s painting practices, particularly in respect to his beginning coretan series, which was inspired by graffiti writing. In his later paintings, Yunizar includes more doodle-like drawings such as figures, faces and creatures but continues to be guided by the idea of rasa: the sum of sensation, intuition and impulse. Through his paintings, Yunizar invites the viewer to welcome the chaotic sensations and emotions of the everyday. His paintings often elude our ability to interpret and understand them but perhaps by doing so, they afford us some relief from society’s demanding insistence for us to have the answers to everything.
This painting also reminds us of the versatility of Yunizar’s different artistic practices as the red fish at the bottom of the canvas bears striking similarities to one of the artist’s first sculptures, a wooden piece entitled Fish (2011). While Yunizar’s strange but endearing characters are indeed testament to his ever-expanding imagination, they also evidence the intricacies of his long-standing and established career.
