Humor in Rastika's Glass Painting<\/p>\n
Yusuf Susilo Hartono
\nContributor
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
After being absent for sometime of solo exhibition area in
\nJakarta, Rastika, 60-year-old glass painter from Gegesik Kulon, a
\nvillage in Cirebon, West Java, backs with his latest works.<\/p>\n
Though some of his 40 displayed glass painting works still
\nshow a repetition of old themes, like calligraphy of Syahadat
\n(the confession of faith, there is no God but Allah and Prophet
\nMuhammad is God's Messenger) in Semar or Paksi Naga Liman
\ncreature unique of Cirebon, fresh themes are also found in his
\nworks even with a touch of humorous nuances -- like the one where
\nPetruk, a royal servant character in traditional shadow puppet
\nshow, sits leisurely with his two hands holding liquor bottles
\nwhile a pretty woman sits on his lap.<\/p>\n
Rastika started his creative process as a glass painter in
\n1950s. After such quite a long span of time, the former farmer
\nhas now come to a significant height of wisdom as shown in a way
\nhe uses humor as catharsis, not as a form of escapism.<\/p>\n
Although his formal education was confined only to elementary
\nschool, Rastika is knowledgeable about the philosophy of life (as
\nreflected in shadow puppet stories). His works clearly show how
\nhis knowledge and his experience as a farmer contend to gain more
\nprominence.<\/p>\n
Toyda, young painters in Cirebon are generally come with
\nhigher educational background than Rastika but know little of the
\nphilosophy, like of the shadow puppet stories.<\/p>\n
If it is true that Rastika humor is a catharsis, how is the
\nquality of visual language in drunken Petruk painting compared
\nwith his usual themes that are usually derived from the shadow
\npuppet stories?<\/p>\n
According to a glass painting observer, Eddy Hadi Waluyo,
\nRastika is capable of depicting flexible and elegant shapes with
\nrich and beautiful details of great complexity. This, he said,
\nmust be the outcome of his continuous explorations of the themes
\nfrom the shadow puppet stories.<\/p>\n
Rastika was not alone in creating the exhibited works.
\nAlthough these works bear his signature, Kusdono (20), his fourth
\nchild and a junior high school dropout, played an important role
\nin creating these works.<\/p>\n
Kusdono, who is confined to his wheelchair, has, in the past
\nfive years, gone through his father's rigorous training in glass
\npainting in a hope that someday, he might take Rastika's place
\nwhen his father can no longer take up painting.<\/p>\n
In the creating process, Kusdono is assigned to color the
\npatterns that his father made. These patterns are in black
\nflexible lines with objects being neatly placed in nice
\ncomposition. In coloring these patterns, Kusdono has to follow
\nhis father's guidelines.<\/p>\n
The base, for example, is provided with blue color of duck egg
\nskin to give soft impression then the motifs of stony ground and
\nclouds are layered in monochromatic degradation like blue, green,
\nred, brown. Now, his fanatic collectors find his paintings
\nsofter in color than those created five to 10 years back where
\nmost of them were in bright colors.<\/p>\n
An interesting thing at this ongoing exhibition is that for
\nthe first time, Rastika displays reproduction of Barikan from
\nGegesik, a series of 16 frames. He has reproduced the paintings
\nby Sitisiwan (1865-1948) from Lontar offset reproduction. Lontar
\nitself has reproduced these paintings from the original works and
\ncollected by TL Cooper. This painting features Cirebon folklore
\nlike Lukas Baurna, putra Jaka Larang (Lukas Baurna, the son of
\nJaka Larang) and Raja Jin Tanjung Karobak dengan Rara Bulan,
\nputri Laut Selatan (Genie King and Rara Bulan, the South Sea
\nPrincess). Such paintings were used to be put up in a house at
\ntime when there's wedding party or circumcision ceremony.<\/p>\n
This reproduction idea came from Iwan Ramelan of PT Fortune,
\nthe exhibition's sponsor. Many have supported this effort since
\nSitisiwan died over 50 years ago and Rastika has reproduced the
\npainting in his own media and style so he cannot be accused of
\nplagiarism.<\/p>\n
Regardless of whether or not this reproduction violates
\ncopyright, Rastika's exhibition this time is quite attractive. In
\nearly years of the propagation of Islam, glass painting works
\nwere used as a means of propagation, but now Rastika uses it as a
\nmedium of humor. This is especially interesting to note given
\nthat the Indonesians now find it hard to laugh as the prices of
\ndaily necessities have risen.<\/p>\n
I-BOX:<\/p>\n
The exhibition will run through to Jan. 19, 2003 at Candrika
\nGallery, Pondok Indah Plaza I, South Jakarta (Tel: 75900763-762)<\/p>",
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