Tisna was born in Bandung in 1960 and grew up there. He studied graphic art at the Bandung Institute of Technology and in Braunschweig, Germany. His etchings and lithographs are dense with images from traditional Sundanese theater and Western art and portray the tensions of contemporary socio-political Indonesia. Currently teaching at the Bandung Institute of Technology, Tisna is a central figure in the Bandung art scene and well known throughout Indonesia.

Tisna in his studio in Bandung, Feb. 2008
(photo by GC)