Catur Nugroho

Catur Nugroho (born 1999, Wonosobo) is an emerging Indonesian artist who began his artistic career in 2018. His practice is characterised by experimentation and material exploration, resulting in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional works, including painting and installation. His artistic interests are deeply rooted in environmental issues, local cultural contexts, social realities, and historical narratives, which consistently inform his visual language.

Catur has actively participated in numerous art projects and exhibitions, including Arisan Karya at Museum MACAN, Nandur Srawung 7, Special Project Jogja Art Week 2020, Asana Bina Seni 2022 by Biennale Jogja, and the TUBABA Residency Programme in 2022. In 2025, he presented his solo exhibition MITONI: Sublime Landscapes.

His achievements include receiving Best Artwork at the Edu Art Award Exhibition 2020, being a finalist in UOB Painting of the Year 2021 and the Basoeki Abdullah Art Award 2024, as well as winning the Katamsi Young Artist Award 2024.

Title : Jejak Api / Traces of Fire

“Jejak Api” (Traces of Fire) emerges from a contemplation of what remains after fire, residues that are not only physical, but also emotional and ecological. In this work, I seek to capture not merely the visual presence of charcoal and burnt wood, but the lingering sense of grief embedded within them. Fire here is not positioned solely as a destructive force, but as a marker of an unequal relationship between humans and nature.

Growing up within landscapes of mountains and rice fields that continue to undergo rapid transformation, I have witnessed how fire becomes a silent witness to human greed. It carves wounds into the body of the earth, blackened, bitter, and quiet. Yet within this silence, I encounter a narrative: every extinguished ember holds a story waiting to be revisited and reflected upon.

Visually, I allow the textures of charred wood to speak for themselves. Cracks, fragments, and fading tones act as accents of the emptiness left behind. This is not an aestheticisation of sorrow, but a contemplative space, an invitation to recognise that we are inseparable from the landscapes we damage.

“Jejak Api” functions as both documentation and prayer. It records traces of an event while holding onto hope, that from the ruins of destruction, harmony might one day grow again. Ultimately, this possibility rests on our awareness: whether we continue to see these traces merely as ash, or as lessons to be learned.

Size : 100 x 100cm

Medium : Akrilik On Kanvas

Year : 2025