09/28/2026
As part of Portland Textile Month , we’re excited to exhibit Exist / Resist, hand-drawn batik textiles by Gaby Tirta in the windows of Fumi.
gaby pieces are made with wax resist and natural dyes sourced from Indonesia and foraged or grown in the Pacific Northwest, connecting these two regions through traditional craft and personal storytelling.
Gaby is a Chinese Indonesian American artist and designer working in Portland who learned the craft of batik and natural dyeing from artisans in Ubud, Bali. Batik has always traveled, moving through histories of trade and colonization and changing with every crossing and landing. Her work asks what survives migration, what stays hidden, and what gets revealed—shaped by both intention and accident in the process.
We see a lot of our own incense practice in the way Gaby approaches batik. We share a curiosity about lineage and what it means to learn a traditional craft while also developing a personal relationship to it. Both ask us to consider what is inherited, what is transformed, and what becomes our own through the act of making. There is something especially generative about these two practices, shaped by different histories and places, coming together within Fumi.
October 8th - 31st
Fumi (4007 N Mississippi Ave)
Join us Thursday, October 15, 5-8pm for a reception and artist talk with Gaby. Tea and snacks will be served. See the link in our profile for more details.
The exhibition will be on view in our storefront windows, accessible anytime from the street.
Development of this work is supported by a grant from Regional Arts & Culture Council
