2023 - 2024
Niyat features several works, mainly a leather heart tattooed wearable hijab installation piece, an illustrated concrete slab, a series of hanging embroidered hijab balloons, a cemented toile pattern of the hijab and a conceptual performance art video.
Weighted Intention - Acrylic on 10ft x 16ft Concrete slab tile
Presented as a Hanya Satu (Single) exhibit at the National Art Gallery from December 25, 2023 to February 19, 2024, NIYAT is multidisciplinary artist Dhan Illiani Yusof's multi-dimensional installation. The main work featured the artist Dhani learning the art of tattoo-ing under the tattoo artist Simple Lim who has a shop at GMBBKL
As written and quoted for Baskl By NABILA AZLAN
“This is my first time to address the understanding of spatial awareness fully,” she says in our chat. The manner that Hanya Satu (Single) exhibits are placed periodically, smack at the entrance of the National Art Gallery, poses a challenge to artists who are new to the activation space. After being deliberate about this space she has been invited to occupy, Dhan’s introspective persona lingers on the word ‘niat’, or ‘intention’ in Malay, derived from the Arabic word ‘niyyah’.
Reflecting on how the formation of one’s intentions is part and parcel of making art, NIYAT at a glance may seem like an amalgamation of three pieces, when in actuality it is a collection of seven elements sewn together and then represented as three main conceptual representations. On one corner with a line of hung head coverings is the Floating Intention (Niyat Ringan); behind it you can see a slab of concrete embodying Weighted Intention (Niyat Berat) and on the far right stands the curated and cemented Intention to Act (Niyat Untuk Bertindak).
“I tend to be very frank about my processes. NIYAT is a start,” she tells. “In general, there are many sides to it. I’m not trying to be restrictive about how it comes out to the audience, rather I’m being open and observing the different narratives and definitions that people have. A ‘niat’ to me is not only a form of intention but also the process of understanding, an act of surrender.”
Niyat was covered by the National TV stations and paper, featured in more than 10 major media platforms across Malaysia.
Supporting program: Conversation on the process and ideation behind the exhibition.
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