RIZALDI, Riar
Mirage-Theophany

Mirage-Theophany expands on the origins and ideas of Riar Rizaldi's Mirage film series by introducing a fictional-historical narrative centred on the work of 16th-century Sumatran Sufi writer Hamzah Fansuri. Printed using a malfunctioning offset printing press, the comic book depicts Fansuri's discovery of God within a particle. Illustrations by Arda Awigarda depict a stylistic amalgamation of wafak aesthetics (Islamic amulets), Sufi manuscripts from the Indonesian archipelago, and Kirby-esque comic landscapes. The paper quality mirrors that of Indonesian underground comics, and each has a slightly different colour.

Riar Rizaldi works as an artist and filmmaker. His artistic practice focuses mostly on the relationship between technology, labour, and nature, worldviews, genre cinema, and the possibility of theoretical fiction. [publishers' note]

Published by Gasworks, 2024
Comics & Illustrations / Artists' Books / Religion / Film & Video