"Memory" Painting

Helmi Fu (b. 1990, Banyuwangi, Indonesia) is a contemporary artist based between Klaten and Yogyakarta. His multidisciplinary practice explores the relationship between language, material, and lived experience, treating surfaces as spaces where human presence quietly accumulates over time.

Working across glass, paper, found posters, magazines, and mixed media, Helmi's artistic journey has evolved from abstraction to text-based compositions, layered material explorations, and, more recently, still life. Rather than representing objects, his works investigate how memories, emotions, and everyday experiences leave traces on ordinary surfaces.

Writing plays a central role in his creative process. Words are not used as narratives to be read, but as gestures, rhythms, and visual remnants that merge with layers of material. Through cutting, tearing, painting, and assembling, he transforms familiar objects into contemplative spaces where personal and collective histories intersect.

Helmi has also been involved in mural projects, performance-based collaborations, and community art initiatives, experiences that continue to shape his understanding of public space and visual language. His works have been collected in Indonesia, the United States, and Germany, and are included in the Museum MACAN Arisan Karya collection. In 2024, he was selected as a finalist in the UOB Painting of the Year Indonesia.