01

White cotton dyed with clove, fixated in iron.
Flowers hand drawn with soda ash
Block pattern hand painted with bleach
Top stitched

The clove, once a symbol of colonial extraction, reappears here as a gesture of care and return. Flowers are hand-drawn with soda ash, and are inspired by the bouquet batik tradition of Pekalongan. This style was popularised in the late 19th century by the Dutch designer Eliza van Zuylen. A tale tells that her workshop employed two highly skilled Chinese artisans whose refined drawing techniques were soon imitated by local makers. Through this circulation, a visual language is shaped by colonial trade, migration, and unequal power, yet transformed through local reinterpretation.

This work reflects on how colonial histories remain woven into aesthetics and how patterns, motifs, and materials carry stories of influence and appropriation. By revisiting these entanglements through natural dyes and hand processes, the piece invites a rethinking of authorship, heritage, and continuity within textile traditions.