Comics
Chosen projects by maotte
Living Dolls
A man who has lost his wife and child chooses to escape his grief by purchasing advanced living dolls that perfectly replicate their faces and behavior. Their presence gives him the illusion that his family is still alive, allowing him to continue his daily life without confronting his loss.
As years pass, the dolls remain unchanged while the man grows older and increasingly empty inside. Living in this artificial comfort, he slowly realizes that he has been avoiding reality and denying his true emotions. Overwhelmed by guilt and longing, he finally deactivates and discards the dolls.
With flowers in hand, he returns to the graves of his wife and child, at last facing his grief and releasing the sorrow he has suppressed for so long.
Living dolls was exhibited at Yogyakomtek 2025, in September 2025.
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Si Merah
A wanderer travels across the archipelago in pursuit of greater strength. He possesses an intense ambition for power. One day, his journey leads him to an island in the southern part of the archipelago, an island covered in vast rice fields. Nearly the entire
landscape is planted with rice. The island is called Yavadvipa.
Despite having an abundant food supply, the people of Yavadvipa are not free from danger. The threat they face is far more terrifying than famine. Rumors spread of numerous rice fields suddenly being destroyed overnight. No one knows what attacked them, leaving behind mysterious blood-red liquid. Some villagers claim these are traces of battles between a mystical old woman and a monster.
Upon hearing these rumors, the wanderer becomes eager to challenge the monster.
He observes all the rice fields that have been damaged. On the first day, nothing \appears. When he returns to the village, he hears that another field has been destroyed instead. He then begins calculating which field will be the next target, noticing a certain pattern.
The following night, he finally encounters a terrifying figure, a monster. Confidently, he challenges it, believing that defeating the creature will make him stronger. However, midway through the battle, his energy is depleted. He is not strong enough yet. Just as
the rumors claimed, the mystical old woman appears, wielding an incredibly powerful spear. She defeats the monster with a single strike. The wanderer is left in awe. He asks her to take him as her disciple, but she refuses, he is still not strong enough. True
strength is not gained through ambition alone.
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