Description
Sinyo terbesar In this work, Eva Margaretha explores how language can carry traces of power and inequality. The colonial term sinyo referred to young men of European or Indo-European descent in the Dutch East Indies. It sounds harmless, but it carries a history of hierarchy, exclusion, and identity.
Margaretha’s visual language connects personal memory with collective history. By removing the word from its original context and placing it in a contemporary artwork, she invites the viewer to reflect on the question: who has the power to name, and who is named?
The work is part of a series in which language preserves hidden histories. Words that continue to resonate, even when their origins fade.
Sinyo Terbesar is presented in a heavy, rustic, hand-built wooden frame that forms an integral part of the work itself. The frame is not a neutral support, but a constructed boundary that reinforces the weight and authority of the word it holds. As a self-contained object, the work occupies the space with physical presence, echoing the historical structures embedded in language.
Artwork size approx. 130 × 180 cm
Framed size approx. 180 × 220 cm
The artworks are part of the solo exhibition by Eva Margaretha at Galerie Wind, Rotterdam, from 15 February to 15 March. Opening: 15 February at 3 pm. The works will be available after the exhibition.
