Fresh Face: Yohan Liliyani
Still-life photography at the intersection of art and fashion
A&M's Fresh Face is where we profile an emerging artist from the region every month and speak to them about how they kick-started their career, how they continue to sustain their practice and what drives them as artists.
Yohan Liliyani.
Indonesian artist Yohan Liliyani (b.1992) uses still-life photography as a creative approach to self-reflection. Through her lens, she dissects everyday objects in her surroundings and builds a narrative through the use of composition and lighting. Yohan’s background as a fashion photographer has had a significant influence in constructing her artistic identity, resulting in a distinctive visual where fashion and fine art intersect.
Growing up, the thought of pursuing an art career did not cross Yohan’s mind. She was drawn to visual arts after joining a photography club while studying at Monash University for her Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting and Finance. After graduating in 2012, she worked in Melbourne before returning to Indonesia to pursue photography full-time. In 2016, Yohan started her practice as a fashion photographer at NPM Photography & Associates, a creative artist management and media consultancy.
Yohan Liliyani, Middle Ground, 2020, photograph. Image courtesy of the artist.
Yohan’s shift to fine art began in 2020 during the pandemic lockdown. Unable to carry out fashion photo shoots, still-life photography became an outlet to channel her creativity. Organic materials are integral elements in Yohan’s images as they communicate her views on the human experience of growth and death. The recurring theme can be seen in works such as Middle Ground (2020), an editorial project for Indonesian publication Utterly Me. The series offers a playful take on miscellaneous items she found in her household: flowers, fresh produce, tableware, and natural elements such as water droplets. It illustrates Yohan’s ability to shine a new light on the most common objects through photography.
Yohan Liliyani, Artifacts 3, 2022, framed giclée print on 250gsm epson luster paper, 70 x 56cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
With Artifacts (2022), Yohan marked her professional debut as an artist. It was first exhibited at UNION (2022) by Rasasastra at Semesta’s Gallery in Jakarta, and most recently in Under the Sun (2023) at Art Agenda. The photographs draw inspiration from the practice of archeology, and examine her personal relationship with the objects she owns. It conveys how every item, from the prized possessions to insignificant ones, have played a role in shaping her life. Yohan also sculpted for this project. She moulded clays to form abstract shapes and textures that juxtapose with the clean lines of the metallic components.
Yohan Liliyani, Her’s from the series Essence of Memories, 2023, UV print on acrylic, 63 x 48cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Yohan Liliyani, Between My Toes from the series Essence of Memories, 2023, UV print on acrylic, 30 x 54cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Her latest body of work Essence of Memories (2023) is currently exhibited at Elegi Buih (2023) at Art Agenda in Jakarta from 19 August to 30 September. Experimenting with a different concept, the ideas of loss and memories are communicated through a series of images depicting scenic textures. She has taken her storytelling beyond photography with an immersive visual experience. Accompanying the displayed images are hung acrylic sheets that create a reflective, textural effect resembling the ocean surface in light.
Yohan’s photographs take from fashion and fine art. Her expertise in fashion photography brings a sense of dynamism by humanising the objects she shoots, whereas her experience with fine art encourages her to be more conceptual with her fashion images. Together, they form a distinctive outlook–and aesthetic—that defines her practice.
Interview
Yohan Liliyani, Untitled from the series Organic, 2020, photograph. Image courtesy of the artist.
To start, could you share how you first started your artistic journey? What made you particularly interested in photography?
I grew up in a family that was not art-centric. When I went to Melbourne for my Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting and Finance at Monash University, my sister handed me her camera. This made me interested in joining the photography club on campus. I am intrigued with the idea of communicating a story within a rectangular frame, and also with creating things by experimenting with settings and lighting.
From my observation, your artistic training has mostly been non-formal and non-institutional. How has this shaped your practice? Who has been an important mentor or a significant influence to you?
It is definitely challenging and a slow process, but I think it drives me to be more curious and to draw inspiration from other artists, as well as my surroundings. It also allows me to be more instinctive with my method of creating art. Additionally, my friends in the creative industry have a lot of influence on my practice. I have supportive friends whom I can talk to and exchange thoughts with.
You started as a fashion photographer before starting your practice as an artist. How did this shift come about?
It started during the pandemic lockdown when I was not able to channel my creativity through my photography work like I usually did. Being stuck at home somehow made me see ordinary objects in a different light.
At the time, I made a still-life editorial piece, and I became hooked. I did not shift right away since the lockdown restrictions became looser and I was able to carry out work like usual. My main focus was doing what I was already familiar with. It was not until I met my good friend Alexander Sebastianus, who encouraged me to push my career further as an artist that I did so.
Yohan Liliyani, Artifacts 2, 2022, framed giclée print on 250gsm epson luster paper, 70 x 56cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Recently, you showed Artifacts (2022) in the Under the Sun exhibition at Art Agenda. How did the opportunity come about, and could you talk about your first experience exhibiting with them?
Artifacts is indeed my first body of work that was exhibited. However, Under the Sun by Art Agenda was the second time it was displayed. Prior to that, it was exhibited at UNION (2020) by Rasasastra at Semesta’s Gallery in Jakarta. Stella Wenny, the gallery manager at Art Agenda came to the art festival and contacted me after she saw my work. It was exciting to experience working with a gallery for the first time.
What were the ideas you wanted to explore with Artifacts? And could you explain the process behind this series of works?
I wanted to explore the relationship that we have between ourselves and our objects. I am fascinated with archeology, and how archeologists would find objects of the past. These items might be ordinary to someone at the time, but they give us insights into their life. From this, it led me to wonder about the stories ours would tell. If you think about it, we are archeologists ourselves. We have things that we forget about and store somewhere in our house. One day, we will stumble upon it and it will remind us of past chapters of our lives.
Yohan Liliyani, Middle Ground, 2020, photograph. Image courtesy of the artist.
You often work with organic materials and objects in your still-life images. Is there a particular reason behind this? What is its significance to the key themes that your practice explores?
I think that organic materials bear a resemblance to us as human beings in the sense that there is growth and eventually death. I often use organic objects as a reference to symbolise the human experience.
How has your fashion photography work influenced your fine arts projects, and vice versa? Do you distinguish them as separate creative spaces, or actively seek to develop both areas simultaneously?
My background in fashion photography has influenced me to humanise the objects that I shoot and have fun with compositions and lighting. At the same time, my fine art practice allows me to be more conceptual with my fashion photography. I seek to develop both areas because they feed off of each other.
“My background in fashion photography has influenced me to humanise the objects that I shoot, and have fun with compositions and lighting.”
Yohan Liliyani, Assemblage: Adimas, 2023, photograph. Image courtesy of the artist.
As an emerging artist in Indonesia, what are some of the key challenges you face and equally the opportunities that you seek? How do they differ from your experience as a fashion photographer?
The level of art appreciation in Indonesia has yet to grow compared to other countries. However, we are surrounded by craftsmen and we have easier access to a wide range of materials in Indonesia. This allows us to conduct more experimentations and explorations.
What do you hope to see in the contemporary art scene of Indonesia?
I hope that the contemporary art scene will continue to thrive and that there will be a supportive community, where artists are encouraged to be themselves, experiment with new ideas, and challenge conventional norms.
Yohan Liliyani, The House from the series Essence of Memories, 2023, UV print on acrylic, 34 x 30cm. Image courtesy of the artist
Yohan Liliyani, That Morning from the series Essence of Memories, 2023, UV print on acrylic, 30 x 54cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Lastly, could you share your upcoming projects and what you have in store for your practice moving forward?
I look forward to integrating my practice with more manual work, and going beyond photography.
