Amrus hacks creative freedom out of wood<\/p>\n
By Margaret Agusta<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Amrus Natalsya does with a knife what most
\nartists do with a paintbrush. Under his strong hands and sharp
\neyes, thick panels of wood take on images of human life and
\nexistence.<\/p>\n
Amrus hacks these images from the surface of the panels with
\nan ordinary kitchen knife, rather that applying layers of paint,
\nor resorting to the hammer and chisel most artists would select
\nfor creating reliefs. The results of this unusual choice of
\ninstruments are as unlike the ornate, shiny reliefs of
\ntraditional artisans as they are different from the smooth
\nsurfaced, colorful canvases produced by painters.<\/p>\n
\"A work of art must be original,\" he told Jim Supangkat, the
\ncurator of his current exhibition at Lontar Gallery on Jl. Utan
\nKayu 68 H, East Jakarta. \"I want to be free of all that is taught
\nby others. What I create must come from me, not from someone
\nelse's knowledge.\"<\/p>\n
Amrus, who was born in Medan, North Sumatra, on Oct. 21, 1933,
\nbegan studying art at the Indonesian Academy of Art (ASRI) in
\nYogyakarta in 1954. He started out in commercial art, but soon
\nbecame entranced by the sculptures his roommate, Michel Wowor,
\nwas creating. \"One day he suggested that I try my hand at
\ncreating a sculpture from a piece of wood. Because someone had
\ngiven me the chunk of wood, I was reluctant not to produce
\nsomething.\"<\/p>\n
Love affair<\/p>\n
This encounter with wood was to begin a love affair with that
\nmaterial that continues some 42 years later. \"I paint as well,
\nbut I have found it difficult to find originality in a medium
\nthat came to us from Europe. No matter what we try with it, we
\nend up doing something that somebody else has already done,\" he
\nsaid. \"All I could think of was that I had to find something
\noriginal, something of my own.\"<\/p>\n
Wood and sculpture gave him the opportunity to explore not
\nonly a new material, but also a wealth of creative and esthetic
\npossibilities.<\/p>\n
\"Wood has an essence, a special quality, of its own,\" he said.
\n\"If it were not for that essence, I might as well just take the
\nwood panels and paint images on them. Wood offers a whole range
\nof possibilities throughout the different stages of processing a
\nwork.\"<\/p>\n
Above all, wood offered him a way to express himself in a way
\nnatural to his environment.<\/p>\n
\"I thought, Indonesia is a land of jungles full of wood. Why
\nnot use wood as a media of expression. It would be more natural
\nand fitting. Who said a work of art had to be smeared with bright
\ncolors? Who said that individual expression could be
\naccomplished only through the manipulation of a handful of
\ncolors'?\"<\/p>\n
Amrus demands the freedom to create in a way that is uniquely
\nhis own. It is this desire that has driven him throughout his
\ncareer as both a painter and a sculptor. In 1979, when he was
\nselling art out of a kiosk at the Ancol Art Market, North
\nJakarta, it was this obsession with new ideas and techniques that
\nled him to merge the concepts inherent in painting and sculpture
\ninto what he calls \"wood paintings\".<\/p>\n
\"One day I saw this guy hacking away at a piece of wood he was
\ntrying to cut in two with a knife. It took him a long time, but
\nthat piece of wood finally split into two pieces. Then I noticed
\nthe gouges left by the knife in the surface of the wood. It
\nintrigued me. Somehow, it was very beautiful to me,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"That was when I began hacking into the surface of wood to see
\nwhat kind of effect I could create.\"<\/p>\n
Since then, although he has continued to paint and sculpt, he
\nhas experimented with gouging and hacking images out of the
\nsurface of thick panels of wood.<\/p>\n
Wood paintings<\/p>\n
\"With this technique, I create wood paintings,\" he said. \"By
\nintroducing cuts into a surface I am able to create a painterly
\neffect, which I feel makes wood into a real work of art. In this
\nway, a panel of wood can rank with a painting as art. I really
\nbelieve this is a discovery. Through hacking and cutting into a
\nsurface, I am able to create expressive images like those in a
\npainting.\"<\/p>\n
Amrus is convinced that this approach offers creative freedom
\nas great as that to be found in the spontaneous splashing of
\npaint, or the squeezing and prodding of clay. \"There is an
\nemotional catharsis to be found in working with wood, which I
\nhave never found working with paint and canvas,\" he explained.<\/p>\n
He is adamant that his \"wood paintings\" are as valid as
\nsculptures or paintings as art forms, and most important of all
\nto him, \"wood painting\" is an art form all his own. \"I have the
\ncourage and the conviction to say that wood painting is my
\ndiscovery, my creation. I developed the technique which results
\nin the originality I was seeking. As far as I know, there is
\nnobody else doing anything remotely like this. As for sculptures
\nand traditional reliefs, our ancestors did that. If we just
\nfollow their technique, we are carrying on a tradition, nothing
\nmore.\"<\/p>\n
Narratives<\/p>\n
The wood paintings and sculptures now on display through Nov.
\n30 at Lontar Gallery speak not only of Amrus's obsession with
\noriginality, but his love for the environment and the way of life
\nof the vast populace of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Not only are his unique reliefs expressive, they tell stories
\nof the world around him and the people and creatures who inhabit
\nit.<\/p>\n
Not only has his love of wood led him on a creative journey in
\nthe urban jungle of Jakarta, it has also taken Amrus into the
\nforests of Lampung and South Kalimantan. These treks have
\nresulted in works which speak of the grassroots way of life, such
\nas Pergi Kondangan (Going to a Wedding Party), Hutan dan
\nPemiliknya (The Forest and its Owners) and Rumah Tua -- Yang
\nTinggal Anak-Anak (Old House -- Only the Children Remain).<\/p>\n
Other works by Amrus reflect the impact of his life in the
\nnation's capital. The sculpture Pak RT (The Neighborhood Chief)
\noffers a humorous look at the immense task of trying to regulate
\nthe activities of an overpopulated community.<\/p>\n
His experiences in Jakarta have also motivated the depiction
\nof the struggle of traditional people to come to grips with an
\nalien, modern urban environment. The city scenes brought forth in
\nworks such as Dulu Mereka Naik Becak (They Used to Ride in
\nPedicabs) and Sehabis Menjual Diri (After Selling Herself) speak
\nvolumes about the desperation and frustration of the poverty
\nstricken.<\/p>\n
Amrus delves into more than just the possibilities of knife
\nand wood when he creates his \"wood paintings\", he explores human
\nemotion and experience.<\/p>",
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