Lusiana Limono is an artist and textile crafter with a strong interest in environmental issues and handmade traditions. She aims to use craft as a language of expression in her works and knowledge production processes. Being an MA graduate from IKJ Postgraduates, she is interested in the role that cloth and domestic objects play in creating opportunities for a deeper connection between people and their sense of (place, wellbeing, identity, roots). She looks to the tradition of both textile crafting and the wearable goods to create (assemblage, installation, and objects), exploring intersections of labor, mindfulness, and culture.
She is currently a creative director at KAIT Handmade Studio, an explorative textile studio. She is the co-founder of MaPaQuilts and Kriya Kontemporer Indonesia. MaPaQuilts is a Malang-based community that gathers women quilters. Kriya Kontemporer Indonesia is a craft forum for craft scholars, practitioners, and professionals. Lusiana is closely affiliated with peretas.id and Sekolah Pemikiran Perempuan. Both are independent initiatives for women art workers in Indonesia and beyond.
She has been awarded the Good Design Indonesia-Best (2017), the Good Design Award in Japan (2018), the ASEAN Foundation Weaving Tales Award (2021), and a dance film, Kait (2022), was nominated for the IMAJITARI 2023 official selection. Her recent solo exhibition, Berbicara Melalui Kain (2023), was presented by Goethe-Institut Indonesien at Goethehaus Foyer Jakarta.
These past two years, I have been busy with domestic waste experiments. From paper and soap to clay making and fabric scrap upcycling. During my 2025 art residency, I was truly impressed by Nikoi's waste processing. They utilise organic waste for compost and cultivate black soldier larvae, which are then used as animal feed. In light of this circularity, I'm interested in engaging in creative upcycling of other, less-developed waste. This aligns with my concern for the domestic space as a space for knowledge reproduction and harmony with nature.
As this will be my second time visiting Nikoi, I want to focus on upcycling domestic waste into something functional, creative, and aesthetically pleasing. This way, the waste will circulate and be reused on the island without being shipped off-island. After receiving information from the waste management team on Nikoi, I discovered several materials that still needed a creative touch, including eggshells, used cooking oil, fabrics (towels, curtains, bed sheets), wine bottles, cardboard, and paper.
I sought the opinions of several staff members and, after receiving feedback, aligned the available materials with the island's needs. This project will focus on using used cooking oil as a raw material for dishwashing soap, laundry soap, and mop soap. Paper waste will be recycled into soap, wrapping paper, or handmade greeting cards. This project will involve waste management staff. With the kids club staff, if time permits, projects can be conducted on paper clay and bio-ceramics to be transferred into future children's creative activities.
Ubah Rumah is an art residency and archive inspired by stories of our region.
