Joy of prints and multiples
Printmaking art has been a hit during the pandemic, helping young Malaysian artists’ careers to blossom.
AS a curious child, Syafiqah Sharom – better known as Ika – used to watch her mother transform fruit into works of art. Her mother participated in numerous fruit carving competitions and young Ika would watch her working on them in fascination.
“She loves carving fruit and she used to enter so many competitions. It was amazing to watch her doing it. All the detailing, it just blew my mind. Whenever there is a wedding for a family member or a friend, she would carve fruit into flower shapes to use as table decorations. She really inspired me with her creativity,” says Ika, 29, an illustrator and printmaker who is steadily making a name for herself in the art scene with her retro-inspired linocut prints.
For newcomers, a linocut is a type of relief, or block print. It has a lot of similarities to woodblock printing. Here, the artist carves an image into a linoleum (lino) block and what’s left of the block is inked and printed.
Throughout the pandemic, Ika has been active on Instagram, sharing her creative process and giving viewers a glimpse of her works ranging from black-and-white prints to hand painted prints.
Everyday women and mothers, seemingly hailing from an old world Malaysia, are seen looking strong and elegant in traditional Malay attire, especially the baju kebaya and baju kurung.
Ika’s artwork themes also feature a Mother Nature (Bumi Ibu) character and a Malayaera woman rubber tapper (carrying a pail of latex and a hooked knife). Each new piece shows the artist sharing stories and developing an inspirational print series celebrating women’s empowerment, freedom and achievements.
In an ever-expanding series of works, Ika has also made prints featuring a Japanese woman wearing a Kitsune mask and a kimono with traditional batik patterns.
“In a way, you can say that I am a selftaught artist in linocut. I find it a very interesting and unique technique, one that really tests your patience in creating art. The most challenging thing in lino is you have to know what to carve and what not to carve. It is like seeing an inverted photo, and you have to carve the inverted part.
“I also like the element of surprise and the suspense when you reveal the final work. Time passes so quickly when I am engrossed in my art. I just need my tools and music, and I am good to go!” she says.
Ika was introduced to lino printing in university, where she researched printmaking techniques for her final year project.
Ika’s limited edition and numbered prints have found an avid following, and she has come a long way from the days of exhibiting a small series of works at her husband Kide Baharudin’s show Pe’el last year in Kuala Lumpur.
Her linocut prints don’t stick around for long when they are made available online.
But Ika has always been comfortable working as a team with Kide, especially as seen during the early days when they used to exhibit illustrations at indie arts festivals in KL, including the Tapaufest.
Taking prints mainstream
Today, the husband-and-wife artist duo are busy building their own brand, Kide & Ika.
They both bring something different to the table: Ika works on her linocut prints while Kide does all the ink drawings.
Earlier this year, they released a limited edition Hari Raya art box set, comprising tote bags, T-shirts, art prints, stickers and money packets that featured Ika’s prints and Kide’s drawings.
The main design was a typical kampung scene that the duo imagined as “a bit of a wonderland”. It showed people dancing among the trees and flowers in the kampung.
In Ika’s works, the female form in a rhythmic groove is often celebrated.
Both Kide and Ika also wanted to remind people of the joys of “balik kampung”, something that many of us have not been able to do during the pandemic.
These boutique releases have made the brand a popular name among young art collectors. There was no need for an art gallery route to success.
As independent artists who loved printmaking and design, they worked outside the art gallery system and often found ways to sustain themselves through artbased commissions.
“We have known each other for more than 10 years. We are very lucky that we share the same passion for visual art. The first project that we worked on together was for the 2018 House of Vans Asia Tour.
“She helped me with the colouring process after I was done with the black-and-white outline for the illustrations. This project will always hold a special place in our hearts because through this commission, we were able to save up for our wedding ceremony the following year,” says Kide.
Kide & Ika officially kicked off later that year, in August 2019.
The recurring theme in their creations? Malaysian culture and its people.
The duo was inspired by the beautiful illustrations by other artists, especially those from abroad, that captured their local culture in a fresh and catchy way. So they thought, why not make Kide & Ika a visual art platform that introduces and promotes Malaysian culture?
Their mantra? To do their part in creating a positive impact, spread joy and remind everyone to be proud of our unique culture and heritage.
“We try to come up with ideas that highlight the unique aspects of Malaysian culture and traditional elements, some of which are fast disappearing from modern life. We find ways to celebrate this with fans of our work. I also like to insert elements of fantasy and surrealism into my linocut works, merging it with local stories and imagery. For instance, imagine the Bawang Putih character entering the world of Alice in Wonderland!” says Ika.
She adds that they fully embrace the handmade concept with their brand and they try to support the local creative industry during their production process.
In the spirit of Malaysia Day, Kide & Ika recently released a new rug. Like all other creations under this brand, the rug is made by hand and combines the artistic styles of the creators.
The rug, sporting a familiar “traditional Malaysia” scene, is decked out in cheery colours. This is a head-turner for sure, particularly for Ika as her works are usually in black and white.
“We wanted to create something that goes with our weather in Malaysia. It’s like, it is summer every day here, with lots of vibrant colours all around us. I was excited
to play with colours in my work, it felt really refreshing.
“The pandemic has affected all of us and adding a new style into my art makes me happy and productive,” she says.
This marks the early days of the “rejuvenated” Kide & Ika brand, in the form of more colours and more pop elements.
“During lockdown, I spent so much time surfing the Internet and researching fashion in the psychedelic and hippie era of the 1960s and 1970s. It made me feel like wearing colourful clothes, especially since wearing pale colours while stuck at home makes me feel rather dull. Our parents said that back then, everyone wore colourful clothing. When did this stop?” she muses.
It felt like the right time to inject a bit more colour into the brand the duo had built together – to spread cheer, share good vibes and bring back a colourful Malaysia.
“You will be seeing more colourful artworks and products from us now, we want to make our ‘old tradition’ culture look ‘pop’ today. But everything else remains the same, in that we want to continue doing what we love, which is to create art joyfully and spontaneously. And we want to make art that people will enjoy. This is what is important, this is what matters the most to us,” she says.