Art et al. co-founder Jennifer Gilbert chats to Chris and Budi at the end of the project to gain some insights into how they think it all went, and what they learnt. One thing both artists raised was although it was lovely to connect with an artist in another country online and how easy that all was, how nice it would have been to meet the other person in real life … food for thought for the future!
Jennifer: Once asked, what drew you to wanting to take part in this collaboration?
Chris: It seemed interesting to meet another person and I met this really skilfull man, Budi. His work is amazing.
Budi: I wanted to explore new possibilities working with people from different cultural and social backgrounds.
“My favourite part of the collaboration was meeting Budi, Jennifer and Sidhi online, and making them laugh!” – Chris
Jennifer: Has anything been a real surprise for you during the collaboration?
Chris: The work that Budi’s doing. That inspired me to do the crocodile. All the work I made.
Budi: The results on how Chris did his cyanotype print with his sketches and the use of his childhood portrait.
Jennifer: What are you hoping audiences get from seeing your work?
Chris: They might think it’s amazing or a bit out of proportion (in a good way), and [it is about] stretching your mind to the limit.
“Hopefully the audience can see our collaboration artwork is about equality, we inspired each other regardless of our physical and mental situations. Everyone will experience disability, especially for those who live long. So our collaboration art is about celebrating life.” – Budi
Jennifer: If you could describe the other artists work in three words, what would you say?
Chris: Precise, definite, love.
Budi: Fun, expressive, humble.
Jennifer: For others potentially doing the peer-to-peer collaborations in the future, what would be your advice to them?
Chris: When you do the project and put [things] down on paper, it should be from the heart. Focus is key. Never ever copy other people’s work. Love what you do. When you’re doing a picture, you use your head as a direct tool, and you use your pen away from you. I persevered with it. I wouldn’t be surprised if people opened me up and they might find some interesting stuff, like a brain power!
Budi: Being yourself is about understanding your peers.
Jennifer: Anything final you’d like to add?
Budi: I am really glad to be part of this program.
“My confidence is massive. It’s brought me out of my shell. I’d like to meet Budi in real life and do another project or stay in touch. I love the Indonesian culture. He’s inspired me.” – Chris