Syahbandi Samat is no extrovert, and his quiet presence carries no need for apology. Translating complex emotions into words does not come naturally to the artist.
Yet armed with little more than a ballpoint pen and a blank surface, he creates highly detailed worlds that draw viewers into his imagination while expressing thoughts and feelings that often elude language.
The Sarawak-born artist presents 35 drawings, six sculptures and 20 miniature works in his latest solo exhibition Silent Persistence at Harta Space in Ampang, in collaboration with Artemis Art.
Running until June 28, the exhibition marks his seventh solo outing – and third in Malaysia – following Beautiful Torture at Hin Bus Depot in George Town in 2024 and The Road Less Travelled at Harta Space the year before.
Curated by Filipino artist Dennis Bato, Silent Persistence extends the exhibition’s dreamlike atmosphere through an approach that departs from conventional curatorial frameworks.
Bato, who refers to the artist simply as “Bandi”, first met him several years ago while collaborating on a project commissioned by the Malaysian Embassy in the Philippines.
“Bandi’s artworks function like a living room – a semi-private, transitional space that connects viewers to his inner world. The works are arranged unconventionally, almost like a fictional landscape. Some hang high, others low, and certain pieces seem intuitively linked,” says Bato, 37, during a recent tour of the exhibition, which has attracted both art enthusiasts and design-conscious visitors.
“His process is fluid. It begins with a subject, from which a story gradually unfolds. He knows the feeling he wants to reach, but the route – and even the vehicle – remains unknown.
“Visitors are often drawn to different elements of the drawings and arrive at their own interpretations. That, too, becomes part of the work’s narrative, because the emotions it explores are deeply familiar,” he adds.
Anxieties in visual form
Despite drawing on familiar motifs – snails, sunflowers, eggs, chairs, goldfish, nails and batik cloth – KL-based Syahbandi’s works resonate in the mind, placing these everyday forms in unsettling, metaphorical situations.
The tension, violence and dread that permeate the pieces reflect some of his darkest emotions, standing in stark contrast to the artist’s reserved demeanour and introverted nature.
“In a way, this exhibition continues from The Road Less Travelled, where I confessed my regrets and wrongdoings to myself and those around me. This time, the sentiment is one of acceptance – acknowledging the past while taking a step forward and confronting whatever uncertainties lie ahead,” says Syahbandi, 34.
Recurring motifs of red threads, distorted anatomy, knives and other menacing objects may evoke manga artist Junji Ito, whose horror worlds often emerge from repressed emotions and societal taboos.
But Syahbandi remains a distinct artistic force, revealing his own voice when armed with only a few pens and enough time.
“The subject matter is recurrent, I simply place it in different situations. There are also several sculptures in this exhibition, as I wanted to explore three-dimensional forms and make use of whatever resources are available. Part of an artist’s ‘silent persistence’ is continuing to expand practice through more cost-efficient solutions,” he says, deadpan.
Smaller works include the Sunflowers In A Box series, where flowers are bound by thread and forced into contorted positions. In Relentless, a snail circles a sunflower inside a dark box, a looping, claustrophobic gesture.
“This work reflects the comfort zones people can become trapped in. We do not see beyond the box, yet we cling to the false promise of the sunflower, repeating cycles, unable to let go and remaining in isolation,” he says.
Once viewers engage with Syahbandi’s visual language, they are drawn into a series of implied questions.
“I wanted to work with simple narrative prompts. Direct Line, for example, asks what one would say or ask God if given a phone to hear its voice,” he adds.
As a father of two young children, themes of responsibility and sacrifice have become central to his practice.
“They come into the studio and draw with me. Sometimes their play interrupts my work, and I get frustrated. That led to works like The Distance Between Consequence, where they are represented as eggs and I am a grenade. It suggests protection, but also the danger of losing control."
In this framing, the ego and repressed emotions emerge as toxic forces that must be managed and released.
Syahbandi strikes a reflective tone, noting how the studio, the gallery space and a life in art have given him many avenues to explore and process experience.
“I still feel I am in the process of letting go. Life is full of struggles that feel like threads binding us – guilt, shame, regret. Moving forward means learning to release them, even when it hurts. Painful as it is, it allows for new beginnings,” he concludes.
Silent Persistence is showing at Harta Space in Ampang, Selangor until June 28. More info here.
