Interview - Ryan Ady Putra - The C.R.E.A.M Wallet
Ryan Ady Putra, an Indonesian artist who currently lives in Jogjakarta. We can imagine It is hard being an artist in a country that doesn’t fund the arts, but Ryan has managed to blaze a path and work with the likes of Monster Children, Insight and Volcom. We sat down with Ryan and spoke broken Indonesian about his art, his inspiration and how he got started.
Our collab with him - the C.R.E.A.M wallet is out now.
When did you start drawing?
First I did skateboarding and friends of mine that did skateboarding too, also did graffiti so i tried it too. After trying graffiti i also tried silkscreen print, making t-shirts, etc.
I was drawing since I was little, but that was just standard drawings. Like drawing mountains and cars. Things that didn’t make any sense.
How do you work?
The base of my work is drawing. I just draw something on a piece of paper, scan it and replace it to other media.
What materials do you use?
Most of the time I only use Indian ink, a brush and sketch pencils. That’s it. But because I do a lot of collaborations, I was forced to learn how to use a Wacom. To be honest, it is better to do it all manually. It is way better. But I didn’t have any choice. Now, I have more digital work rather than original.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
I get my inspiration from my surroundings. When i used to play skateboard, I’d find something that i wanted to draw. Normally i’d write it in my phone and when i get home i will redraw it. At the moment I get a lot of my inspirations through Tumblr.
When I look at an image i can either thing ‘thats cool’ or ‘that’s a little bit weird’. Normally I would like to redraw that image or I will take parts of it.
What is the biggest art industry in Indonesia?
I would say Jogyakarta. The coolest scene is definitely Jogya. There are a lot of artists with various genres that you can find in Jogya. Also, we have a lot of galleries.
Who inspires you Domestically / Internationally?
This guy Eko Nugroho from Jogyakarta inspires me a lot and also my friends from Acehouse Collective. Artists that inspire me outside Indonesia are artists in the sketch scene like, Ed Templeton, Barry McGee and Michael Sieben. Also I am a huge fan of Jim Philips. The owner of Santa Cruz.
Can you tell us more about your previous upcoming projects?
A couple of previous projects are an artwork for Volcom, Afends and other brands. Also I did an artwork for an Australian band, Bleeding Knees Club.
The plan for this year is.. Maybe a collaboration with dEUS and Iron and Resin. Also I am going to work with a magazine, Desillution. And off course with The Walart. I am also doing an artist residential in Melbourne and hopefully I will have an exhibition in May in New York.
What do you want to reach in life?
I never really set goals for myself. I always just go with the flow. Most important thing is, everything I can do now, I will. In the future I just still want to be an artist. Have a lot of work, making whatever. I would like to do a lot of collaborations with brands from Indonesia and where ever.
