ROTAN RATTAN 2025 - 2026
Rotan Rattan: Notions of Labour — Indai
2025
charcoal on paper set in wood and rattan
185cm x 115cm
“Rotan Rattan: Notions of Labour — Indai” is the second work arising from a field trip to Mungguk village in Kapuas Hulu, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, undertaken in April 2025. Indai, meaning “mother” in Iban, refers to the grandmother who was both guide and teacher of the jungle. Along the edges of the frame are rattan weavings made from strands harvested and dyed by the village. Their patterns are drawn from the designs found on rattan mats and baskets, carrying the rhythms of labour, care, and knowledge passed through generations.
First presented at ArtSG 2026 with Sullivan+Strumpf
Rotan Rattan: Notions of Labour — Kapuas Hulu
2025
Charcoal on paper set in wood and rattan screen
184 x 246 x 4cm
Rotan Rattan: Notions of Labour — Uttar Pradesh
2025
Wood, Plantation Chair, Rattan Canes
76 x 190 x 79 cm
“Rotan Rattan: Notions of Labour — Kapuas Hulu” features a large charcoal drawing inset into a rattan 6-panel screen, of a villager from Mungguk village in Kapuas Hulu, Indonesia gathering rattan from the forest. I had the privilege to visit them in April 2025 to live and learn with them. During the stay, they brought us rattan gathering, and taught us how to harvest, prepare, and weave with rattan, which they use to make mats, baskets, and tools. For their village, they do not harvest and craft rattan for sale. It's a resource that is part of their necessary daily living, and the skill of harvest and weaving is taught and passed down through generations, as part of communal care and storytelling.
“Rotan Rattan: Notions of Labour — Uttar Pradesh” features an industrial plywood panel lounging on a plantation/planter’s chair, common in South Asia and Southeast Asia under the 19th C British colonial rule. It's a lounge chair signifying colonial status and rule over farmers and farm lands with outward swinging, extendable arm rest, serving as a foot rest. Marks of rattan canes (a disciplinary tool) and an archive image of a worker holding up a species of rattan 'Calamus tenuis' from Kansrao, Dehra Dun Forest Division, Uttar Pradesh from a research text "Canes (rattans) : their occurrence, cultivation and exploitation in India / by R.L. Badhwar, A.C. Dey and S. Ramaswami" published in 1958 are torched and burnt into plywood. Here, the labourer is finally taking a rest in the seat of power.
First presented at The Private Museum, Singapore from 2nd Oct 2025 to 7th Dec 2025.
Rotan Rattan: Still Lives — Jasmines
2025
Charcoal on paper
36cm (H) x 44cm (W)
Rotan Rattan: Still Lives — Chrysanthemums
2025
Charcoal on paper
36cm (H) x 55cm (W)
In Rotan Rattan: Still Lives, flowers stand in for soft, young bodies, held within and placed upon domestic items made of rattan—pillows, loose weaves, and furniture. Bringing together Chen’s floral drawing practice and the narratives developed through Rotan Rattan, these charcoal-on-paper works speculate on growth, bloom, flourish, and tenderness under conditions of restraint and discipline.
