The rooster is something that typifies life in Asia for her. Their diversity, and ability to live together, seems to her like a parallel to human life. Regardless of the differences of the human race, it is possible to live in peace and togetherness. Unless we are coerced by a higher force, we don't have to fight amongst ourselves, as it happens during cock fights.
Linda also relates this body of work to her personal experience of living and working in a different country and culture from her own. She sees her personal metamorphosis in terms of the divergent types of ayam (chicken). Ayam Bangock is the most common species in Asia, and it is the breed almost always used in cock fights. Sometimes, life in a new environment can be a struggle, contending with external environmental conditions as well as the battle with in ourselves. Cautiously, we assess the new system. With a stretched neck and a twisted head, curious and observant of local life, oscillating between moments of security and bewilderment.
The second sculpture represents a small rooster, the Ayam Kate, originally from Java. This little temperamental chicken is quietly tollerated by others. Ayam Kate tries to make himself bigger than he is, inflating his chest as much as he can. Thanks to his short legs, his walk makes him look like he's dancing. We can, in this country which isn't our home, dance suavely, aware of ourselves as foreigners, nevertheless determined to hold our ground.
Third and last, is a sculpture of a cock and hen. Ayam Cemani, the black one, is the most expensive poultry breed in Asia. It has since ancient times been the stuff of myth and legend. It's used for magic, to revitalise the body, or conversely, to destroy health. If Asia symbolises the mystical Ayam Cemani, the foreigner may after a time, evolve from combative warrior rooster, to a hen, settled beneath the protective wings of Asia. Feeling humble and lucky to be living here, the newly acquired experiences of Jogjakarta that have enriched her life, Linda will hold dear as her most expensive black and rare Ayam.
MADE IN INDONESIA WITH LOVE. 2018. FIBERGLASS.
