Art | Sublime Nexus in Albert Yonathan
Setyawan’s Mandalas + Labyrinths

10.23.17

Today we bring you the mesmerizing artworks of Indonesian, Kyoto-based artist AlbertYonathan Setyawan. Known for his exalted aggregations of ceramic stupas, Setyawan
extrapolates and reinterprets architectural elements and cultural iconography with acontemporary vibe. His works evoke primordial cosmic power, spirituality and meditative
self-reflection and contemplation.
“In my practice, I am really interested in exploring human spirituality and religiosity. I have always
been interested in meditation practice and have been trying to translate the experience into visualart through pattern and repetition. I am a pattern maniac, repetition freakout, I like patterns andrepetitive actions which for many people might be boring. I think that if you engage in a series ofrepetitive acts, and you keep doing it, letting yourself fall into the process, you’ll end up
discovering something deeper than our material existence.”

Whitney Jones, “Art | Sublime Nexus in Albert Yonathan Setyawan’s Mandalas + Labyrinths”, CFile Online, (Accessed date 31 May 2019)https://cfileonline.org/art-sublime-nexus-in-albert-yonathan-setyawans-mandalas-labyrinths/

Albert Yonathan Setyawan, Mandala Study #5, 2015, Terracotta and white marble sandinstallation, 118.1 x 118.1 x 3.9 inches.

detailSetyawan manually uses the slip cast technique in handmade plaster molds in order toproduce his fragile stupas and geometric forms. He then organizes them into systematic
schematics of meditative labyrinths or mandalas.
Centered, repetitious, Setyawan’s conical terracotta stupas often, though not always,
originate at a center nexus spiraling outward in a symbolic reinterpretation of the universe.
Each form, like an mega-sized grain of sand used by the Tibetan Buddhist monks in their own
sand painting practice, will eventually return to earth, ritualistically dismantled—liberated, as
seen in his performance art Cosmic Labyrinth: The Bells.

Setyawan explores ways to transcend the structures he so painstakingly creates. His continuous
retelling of symbols and reiteration of pattern are the same repetitions found in nature and in ourlives, which, the artist asserts, begins and ends with the ephemerality of existence.

Albert Yonathan Setyawan, Cosmic Labyrinth: The Bells (performance), 2012, Ceramic, variable
dimension

Setyawan was among five Indonesian artists to present at the 2013 Venice Biennale exhibitionin the Indonesian Pavilion. He presented a jaw-dropping walkable labyrinth in Cosmic
Labyrinth: The Silent Path. Thousands of stupas were laid out in a square shape reminiscent of
the Borobudur temple, the world’s largest Buddhist temple.
These simultaneously reference very familiar Indonesian traditional arts and very familiarinternational art forms of multiple objects laid out in a pattern.

Albert Yonathan Setyawan, Cosmic Labyrinth: The Silent Path, 2013, Ceramic, variable
dimension

ArtAsiaPacific writes a labyrinth, the artist emphasizes, is different from a maze where one canbecome lost.
Rather, a labyrinth imparts transformation to its visitors by leading them to follow a single,
circuitous path that winds to and from its center. Beginning and end are one.

Albert Yonathan Setyawan, Mandala Study #1: Bowls and Bells, 2012, Ceramic bells, thread,wooden beads, stools, incense, variable dimension

Albert Yonathan Setyawan,, Mandala Study #3, 2014, ceramic, dimensions variableFor the last several years, Setyawan has been living in Kyoto, Japan, completing his
postgraduate studies in ceramics.

Albert Yonathan Setyawan, Concordia, 2013, Ceramic, 100 x 100 x 5 cm

detailAlbert Yonathan Setyawan

Do you love or loathe these works from the worlds of contemporary ceramic art andcontemporary ceramics. Let us know in the comments.