About the Photographer
Suryajaya, Leonard
Indonesian, b. 1982
Leonard Suryajaya is inspired by the complex history of his roots. He grew up as an Indonesian citizen of Buddhist faith and Chinese origin in a predominantly Muslim country. Working from this composite cultural context, the queer artist explores fundamental questions about notions of intimacy, self-representation, and the sense of dislocation—of feeling alien to one’s surroundings. His high-density, performative compositions include his family and partner staged in colorful tableaux vivants. Suryajaya’s photographs and installations communicate a vision of daily life in which a multitude of cultural codes co-exist and betray tensions between personal identity and the expectations of family and society.