Agus Suwage was born in Indonesia in 1959 of Chinese decent. He studied graphic design at Bandung Institute of Technology.

Often considered a socialist activist in his art, Suwage is primarily concerned with problems faced in contemporary Indonesian society. Of Chinese decent, he has struggled with his own personal identity, as an Indonesian, an ethnic Chinese, a Javanese, a global citizen, an artist, a family member and a consumer, concerns facing many Indonesians in its modernizing society and economy.

His art is very personal portraying ideas of oppression, along with other contemporary concerns often in a dramatic, ironic or humorous way. Using himself as a model, his paintings are a storytelling of his personal experiences of the current dilemmas and futilities of life in Indonesia. They have deep resonances with universal themes of identity, belonging and struggling.

The ocean is a symbol of freedom, cleansing and escape. In "Lautan Tanda 2" the artist is swimming strongly, perhaps away from his everyday concerns and struggles. His head is held high and he seems empowered with his escape. The soft moonlight glitters invitingly on the water, creating an atmosphere of peace and calm. The artist is alone, separated from his anxieties. But is this only a dream? The picture is covered in numbers, and numbers are a symbol of imprisonment. When he inishes his swim, or when he wakes up in the morning, will the same concerns he is escaping now come looding back? Will he still have to pay the bills and put bread and butter on the table for his family?