Candrani Yulis – Placing Bets Beyond the Line of Faith, 2026

In Placing Bets Beyond the Line of Faith, Candrani Yulis suspends lengths of fabric used for hijabs from coat hangers, forming a serpent-like structure whose colours gradually shift as it rises. Based on her observations of hijab shops in Indonesia, the work considers how religious expression has become entangled with fashion, consumer culture and expectations placed on women. The serpent introduces an animal form already charged with religious and cultural associations into this meeting of faith and the marketplace. As snakes shed their skin, the sculpture evokes an industry sustained by changing trends and continual reinvention. Its curving body also resembles a backbone. In Indonesian, the principal breadwinner is described as the family’s backbone, connecting economic survival to religious practice.

Candrani Yulis’ work draws on personal experience to examine the intersections between religion, gender and social norms. Through installation, drawing and video, she develops an autoethnographic approach in which individual narratives serve as a means of addressing societal structures. Her practice considers how systems of belief are internalised and enacted, particularly in the regulation of bodies and female roles. Through restrained and often symbolic forms, she foregrounds the tensions between faith, authority and everyday life.