Mahendra Nazar is an Indonesian illustrator and visual artist based in South Tangerang, near Jakarta.,His whimsical illustrations of odd characters and quirky monsters are fueled by an enthusiasm for toys, comics, pop culture and childhood cartoons.,His recurring character ZZ the Clumsy, a bearded child-like figure, has appeared across his work since 2010 and stands for the playfulness he believes every adult still carries inside.
In 2013 Nazar founded M/NMADE, an image-making studio for drawing, illustration and painting, working on both personal and commissioned projects.The ZZ the Clumsy character first took shape as a bearded figure in 2010, was named in 2015, and settled into its current head form between 2022 and 2023 after evolving through the pandemic years. Nazar often borrows forms from well-known characters, such as Hellboy and the cartoon Wally Gator, blending them into ZZ's design. He cites the San Francisco artist couple Barry McGee and Margaret Kilgallen as role models, admiring how they documented their process and let their work and lives intertwine.
Nazar has held solo exhibitions including “Klan Komposisi” in 2017, “Abundance of Hope” in 2019, and “KENDALI”, also in 2019. In 2022 he presented “Myztic Madnezz” at Sunset Limited in Jakarta.In 2026 his solo show “Formidable Sequences” at ARTOTEL Thamrin brought together 16 original works built around ZZ the Clumsy, including pieces reworked from earlier digital NFT releases into prints. One of the newer works in that show, Liminal, combines ZZ with the empty, disorienting spaces of the Backrooms internet horror concept.Across his practice, ZZ has appeared on canvas, wood panels, digital editions, prints and merchandise such as stickers, clothing and rubber toys.,
