Ula Zuhra is a Bali-based illustrator and cartoonist whose full-length graphic novel Aca & Ica: Collected Stories engages themes of feminism, class, eroticism, mythology, and esoteric Indonesian practices through satirical storytelling. The visuals rely on hand-drawn, hand-painted art with a strong high-contrast black-and-white approach punctuated by moments of vibrant colour that intensify narrative emotion. The work employs body-horror elements to reflect Indonesia's complex sociopolitical realities. Language alternates between English and Indonesian slang, creating urgency and texture around contradictions, chaos, and female adulthood in Jakarta. Ula co-founded Studio Cacing in 2021 and cites underground comix, 1980s horror, and Indonesian B-movies as influences.
Ula Zuhra is a Bali-based illustrator, cartoonist and writer behind the full length graphic novel, Aca & Ica: Collected Stories. In the debut piece, the artist explores themes of "feminism, class, eroticism, mythological, and esoteric practices in Indonesia through a tongue-in-cheek satirical lens," the artist says. Throughout Arca & Ica, Ula often opts for a heady balance of high contrast black-and-white, set aside moments of vibrant colour.
Ula's work is entirely hand-drawn and hand-painted, and it leans toward body horror to demontrate the realities of Indonesia's fraught and complex sociopolitical landscape. It's stretched across language too, weaving English together with Indonesian slang. Language jumps out of the page with urgency, swirling around "the contradictions, chaos, and quiet moments of navigating female adulthood in Jakarta," says Ula. Ula isn't new to vibrant world-building, in 2021 she co-founded Studio Cacing, an animation studio that collaborates with local musicians on posters and moving image.
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