Erica Hestu Wahyuni

born in Yogyakarta, Java in 1971

Graduating from Indonesian Fine Art Institute in Yogyakarta and Surikov Institute of Art, Russia, Erica Hestu Wahyuni hailed as one of the most promising artists from Indonesia. Selected group exhibitions: 2005 "Contemporary Art, Group Exhibition", Jakarta, "Balinese Feast: Group Exhibition" and "Celebration of South East Asian Paintings: Group Exhibition", Singapore; 2000 Group Exhibition at Linda Gallery and Sembilan Gallery, Indonesia; 1999 "Women Imaging: Women Group Exhibition", Philipines; 1997 "At Tresors: The International Fine Art Fair", Singapore; 1996 "A New Wave Group Exhibition", Jakarta, Indonesia; 1995 "Exhibition of Sixth Dimension ", Jakarta; 1994 "Exhibition of Indonesia Woman Painters at the Taman Mini", Jakarta, Indonesia; 1993 International Triennial Competition of Painting, Osaka 1993, Japan; 1991 "Painting Exhibition of the Cultural Festival of Yogyakarta (FKY) ", Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Her Art is became favorite for art collector and always sold well in the auction house.

Born in Yogyakarta, Java in 1971. Erica started painting in primary school, joining a children’s drawing club (Sanggar Katamsi), which was taught by Suharto PR and Herry Wibowo – both established painters. Erica is hailed as one of the most promising artists from Indonesia. She studied painting at the prestigious Indonesian Fine Art Institute in Yogyakarta, Indonesia and Surikov Institute of Art, Russia.

Erica’s paintings are usually unpretentious expressions of herself and they reflect her experiences and interests. Her art may be childlike, but they are certainly not simplistic. Each work contains interesting narrative qualities, which reveal the worldview of the artist. Erica’s naive, playful renditions have ascertained her reputation as one of the most sought-after contemporary artists in South East Asia.

Since she was a young girl, Erica had always loved to draw and paint; becoming depressed whenever she was not declared champion in a painting exhibition. "However, that ignited another energy inside of me. It made me stronger and mentally ready to acknowledge the superiority of my colleagues," claimed Erica.

Later on in her life, with the support of her art teacher, she managed to enter the Indonesian Fine Art Academy. At the academy, among her instructors were Nyoman Gunarsa, Agus Burhan, and Wardoyo, and it seemed that Erica finally found her world. Despite being ridiculed  by some of her instructors, bluntly telling Erica that her works were far below average, she persevered. In 1993, her work was selected for the International Triennale Competition of Painting in Osaka, Japan. Erica held her first solo exhibition at the Purna Budaya in 1995, officiated by the sultana of the Yogyakarta court, which turned out to be a successful event.

Erica was invited to participate in an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, Russia, in 2000. Her experience in Russia would perhaps become her most significant one and one that would take her beyond her current limitations.

In Erica's works, many subjects are presented on the canvas presenting a compact and crowded arrangement. Seldom does Erica feature a subject that has its own story; within the forms that she paints, there are other forms, within scenes there are other scenes. Although already filled with various scenes, her paintings still give the impression that only a fragmented of the complete story can be seen on the canvas.

Art critic, M. Dwi Marianto, observes that Erica tends to deform her subjects by exaggerating their physical characters or traits, to a point that they become like caricatures. She positions them radically or imaginatively on the canvas, defying perspective.

Typically, Erica depicts her own experiences in scenes that feature main characters within extremely busy environments. She takes interest in the scenes' surroundings, painting them with great detail. Erica animates the objects in the surroundings to make them become part and parcel of the subject matter of the work. She uses simple deformed shapes and brilliant primary colors to further enhance the sense of animation, and as a result her paintings appear to be fun and enjoyable.