Jakarta’s ROH gallery brings layers of Southeast Asian history and myth to the Grand Palais

Words Pio Angelo Ocampo
October 30, 2024

At Art Basel Paris 2024, Japanese artist Kei Imazu, represented by ROH gallery, unveils Stratum Vein, a solo presentation within the historic Grand Palais. Known for her distinct archaeological approach, Imazu reimagines Southeast Asian landscapes, specifically those of Indonesia, through the intersection of botany, mythology, and humanist philosophy. Since relocating to Bandung in 2018, Imazu has immersed herself in Indonesia’s complex historical layers, and large-scale relief. By situating her work at Art Basel, ROH brings Imazu’s vision to a space that resonates with historical weight, offering a powerful venue for an artist exploring themes of colonialism, spirituality, and Southeast Asian mythos.

Stratum Vein builds upon the foundations laid in Imazu’s 2023 solo show, unearth, where she approached Southeast Asian environments as sites of layered memory. Inspired by figures such as Friedrich Franz Wilhelm Junghuhn, a 19th-century Dutch botanist known for his sensitive studies of Indonesian landscapes, Imazu reframes and recalibrates these botanical histories. Junghuhn, who opposed the colonialist view of the time, advocated for a humanistic, even pantheistic perspective on Javanese society. His work, which captured the natural marvels of Kawah Putih, Patengan Lake, and Lamongan Mountain, influenced Imazu’s depictions of these storied sites. In Stratum Vein, she bridges his ideas with Indonesian animism and modern environmentalism, crafting a non-hierarchical dialogue between science, mythology, and folklore.

Another foundational influence is Alfred Russel Wallace, the British naturalist whose observations on evolution and spirituality in The Malay Archipelago connect scientific exploration to metaphysical curiosity. For Imazu, Wallace’s concept of non-material spirituality resonates with her depictions of Southeast Asian geography as sacred and storied. In a world where these histories are often overlooked or distorted, Imazu revitalizes them, urging viewers to confront the colonial legacies within natural history and recognize these regions as living ecosystems, both ecological and cultural.

Working with digital sketches and 3D renderings, Imazu repurposes the image-saturated environment of our internet age as a sketchbook for her layered, intricate oil paintings. By distorting, layering, and transforming these sketches, she draws out interwoven narratives that merge Indonesia’s colonial past with contemporary anxieties. Through layered surfaces, human organs, fossils, and botanical details emerge—at once natural and surreal, organic and cultural. Imazu’s archaeological approach reflects a “stratum vein” of meanings as myth, history, and science converge, prompting viewers to inspect the porous boundaries between scientific and indigenous knowledge systems.

In her sculptural installations, Imazu creates topographies that mirror the multiplicity of Indonesian geographies. Organic shapes, partially fossilized in plant forms, and human anatomical fragments suggest a tapestry of historical references. These “strata” are dynamic—each layer unfixed from the past, reflecting an ongoing reinterpretation of history, embodying the convergence of ancient stories and contemporary realities.

With its exhibition at the Grand Palais—a structure steeped in colonial history—Imazu’s works reclaim Southeast Asian landscapes within a global art context. In Stratum Vein, spectators in Art Basel Paris are invited to rethink geographies not as remote or “othered” spaces, but as regions of deep kinship with a living repository of cultural and ecological narratives.

Author’s bio note:

Pio Angelo Ocampo’s practice stems from arts and culture writing, research, project management, and curatorial collaborations. He’s finishing his MBA in Contemporary Art at IESA Arts & Culture in Paris, France.