There is nothing like treating oneself to a good meal, especially for a Muslim during the holy month of Ramadan, with the obligatory beginning of fast from fajar. The fasting ranges between 10 hours (Chile) and 22 hours (Greenland), depending on the locations. As indicated by a clock tower behind, those fasting has to follow strictly by a time given to break fast (buka puasa). As the moon (lunar calendar) plays an integral role in the lives of Muslims and Ramadan begins with the sighting of the new moon, here the woman (looks more like a girl probably experiencing her first fasting), half of her face is depicted like a crescent. This is typical of the humour in the works of Adeputra Masri, who worked as a cartoonist-illustrator before breaking into fine art with his first solo at the Legend Hotel in Kuala Lumpur in 1999. Her meal, considered a ‘feast,’ looks simple enough with the main course of rice, fish and a piece of meat. And all the customary sweet stuff of cendol (sweet green flour jelly dessert), cakes (with tako), and a piece of cake with dates, besides a bottle of Kayel (KayEl, meaning Kuala Lumpur) Coke.
Adeputra, a self-taught artist, started drawing for humour magazines Gelihati (under Adi Putere) and Ujang (1990-1992) before doing social commentaries and editorial cartoons for Utusan Malaysia (until 1995). He had written two books, Misnan dan Sarip and Dari Poket Seorang Kutu Lepak, in 1997. A member of the Titikmerah collective, he held a two-man show with Latif Maulan in May 2017 and was featured in a group exhibition at Artemis Art in August 2017. A Johor-born of Javanese descent, he drew on characteristics of the wayang purwa, the Javanese version of the wayang kulit.