Maleficent, Disney’s most notorious and, sometimes, beloved evil queen has become a cultural icon since her appearance in 1959’s Sleeping Beauty.

The evil queen was reinterpreted from a villain to become somewhat of an antihero in her own self-titled film in 2014. Now, five years after this reinterpretation, she returns in a sequel, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.

To promote her return, Disney Indonesia is collaborating with 10 Indonesian artists and designers for an exhibition dubbed “Saints, Evils and In Betweens” at Senayan City mall in South Jakarta from Oct. 10 to Nov. 3.

The exhibition is being held in the mall’s North Space area and features works from Anis Kurniasih, Aurora Santika, Dian Suci Rahmawati, Nus Salomo, Han Chandra, Atreyu Moniaga and Robby Garsia of the Proyek Atreyu Moniaga (AMP), Albert Yanuar, Andreas Odang and Imelda Kartini.

After visitors enter the exhibition area, they will be able to enjoy a display of works inspired by the Maleficent franchise. Each work serves as a backdrop for a pair of black wings, a prominent trademark of the Maleficent character.

The artworks mostly explore the eponymous villain or antihero’s change of heart, gradually shifting from evil to kindhearted or somewhat in between.

One such example is an artwork called Heart of Maleficent by Han. This artwork features minimalistic typography showing both positive and negative words to describe the evil queen’s tumultuous emotional state.

In addition, a heart made out of polystyrene is placed right in the middle of the black wings. The piece also features an acrylic painting of Maleficent glancing at a castle from far away. The artwork symbolizes the pureness that still lies within the evil queen despite her past, when she was betrayed by the love of her life, as shown in the first film.

“Maleficent is actually similar to other kids who have a pure and plain heart, but the betrayal turned her evil,” Han said.

Han’s previous works mostly focus on children but he wanted to do something slightly different this time.

“For this work, I wanted to show the process [of the character] becoming an adult,” he said.

Similar to Han, Dian also used a different artistic approach to her usual works, which mainly tackle body gestures and metaphors.

The Yogyakarta-based artist has created Dan Menjadi (Becoming), a mix-media backdrop consisting of layered transparent fabrics painted with acrylic paints inspired by the hardships of Maleficent and her complex relationship with Princess Aurora, the daughter of the man who betrayed her. The artwork is also inspired by real life experiences.

“The problems we face in our life shape us as a person, and the way we get out from them shows that there is always hope whenever darkness comes,” Dian said.

Meanwhile, Nus and Anis were keen to stick to their usual characteristic elements in each of their works, titled Gummificent and Metamorph, respectively.

Nus, whose works include sculptures and action figures, has made smaller, colorful wing sculptures to surround the black wings, symbolizing the “colorful” and soft “gummy bear-like” side of Maleficent beneath her dark persona.

As for Anis, she has made a monochromatic ballpoint artwork, in the style of her usual works. By photocopying approximately a thousand of her drawings, she created a layered backdrop that slowly fades toward the last pieces to express the development of Maleficent’s character into a kinder version of herself.

In addition to the installation artworks, there are also gowns and dresses from fashion designers Albert, Andreas and Imelda. Disney Indonesia assigned each of them a character from the Maleficent story to work on as the basis of their designs.

Albert, who was assigned Aurora, created a sleeveless, bright pink dress made from Jacquard material that is enhanced further with delicate embroidery.

“I tend to apply dreamy elements whenever I develop a collection, and I grew up watching the development of Disney princesses as well,” Albert said.

“Aurora might look naïve and innocent […] but she began to show her stance in the second film’s teaser, so the colors of the dresses are based on the animated film but I added strong patterns as the motif to show the dramas and twists she will face in the sequel.”

While Albert worked on Aurora, Andreas was tasked by Disney with designing works based on the evil queen.

Andreas, whose works often feature powerful structures, designed a Maleficent-inspired gown collection called Dark Poetry.

“I have designed black gowns based on Maleficent’s color. They are dramatic in silhouette and style, and I want to show Maleficent’s power through the structures of the gowns,” Andreas said.

While Albert and Andreas got a chance to cover well-known characters, Imelda was given the challenge to design an outfit for Queen Ingrith, a new character introduced in the sequel.

However, she saw it as an opportunity to get to know the character better, mainly through research from the teaser.

“Queen Ingrith gives an impression of elegance and dominance and even though she is a queen, she is not that gentle but rather strict. So, I explored these characteristics through the usage of Jacquard material, which gives off an elegant vibe,” said Imelda, who designed a sophisticated white gown complete with strong and detailed blue patterns.

— The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post

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