Left Wing Project (Belok Kiri Jalan Terus), Wing #12, 2017/2018

Left Wing Project is a series of works that examine the socio-political struggles faced by contemporary agrarian societies across Asia today. Made from numerous hand-forged sickles sourced from Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and fashioned into the shape of a left wing, the work explores the history of Yogyakarta and its disenfranchised blacksmith communities. Given the sickle’s symbolism in Communism, the title of the series references the historical connections between traditional farming communities and the emergence of communism in Southeast Asia after WWII.  The tantalising promise of equality and the reality of communism’s failure is poetically manifested in the tensions between the inherent danger of the sickles’ sharp edges and the playful flourish of their combined form.