This article examines the painting ‘Disconnected’ by Irsyad Kahirullah. In the context of art, emotional disconnection becomes a reflective strategy that enables self-transformation through distancing oneself from oppressive emotional experiences, which stem from the human drive to seek meaning and freedom. This study aims to explore how the representation of emotional disconnection in paintings can be understood as a strategy for moving beyond one's comfort zone towards a process of self-transformation and personal liberation. To create a framework for interpreting visual representations in paintings, this study uses a qualitative approach based on comparative literature. This study shows that the conceptual basis for understanding the expression of self-liberation represented in paintings can originate from the urge to step out of one's comfort zone, the process of self-transformation through spiritual awareness, and the practice of emotional disconnection as a reflective mechanism. In short, the conceptual basis that enables paintings to depict efforts at self- liberation visually and meaningfully is emotional disconnection, which is considered a reflective mechanism, as well as the desire to escape the comfort zone and the process of spiritual transformation. This research aims to create a new theoretical framework that connects the ideas of comfort zone, spiritual transformation, and emotional detachment as a foundation for interpreting paintings as expressions of self-liberation.
Copyrights © 2026