Ken Pattern's art takes a new turn<\/p>\n
Ivy Susanti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
After nearly 13 years in Indonesia, Canadian landscape artist
\nKen Pattern still finds the country and its people perplexing.<\/p>\n
This is reflected in one of his latest works, Key to the
\nEmpire, where a map of Java is placed in the middle of a green
\nlabyrinth. Another painting, This Way, portrays an underground
\nlabyrinth with green walls on the left and the right, leading
\nnowhere.<\/p>\n
Pattern has deviated from his theme of realism which was
\nvisible in his earlier works on Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"I'm looking at another perspective. They (the labyrinths) are
\nthe perfect symbol of Indonesia,\" he said at the opening of his
\nsolo exhibition at KOI Gallery and Restaurant in South Jakarta in
\nlate November.<\/p>\n
The perplexity, however, comes from the differences between
\nIndonesians and Westerners in viewing the world.<\/p>\n
\"In Indonesia, what you see is not necessarily what you feel.
\nIt's like going into a labyrinth,\" said Pattern, 59.<\/p>\n
In This Way, which was produced last year, he said he was
\ninterpreting the Javanese.<\/p>\n
\"The Javanese never say 'No'. When somebody asks a question to
\na Javanese, he or she will not clearly state that he or she
\nmeans, or say, 'No'. It is confusing for a lot of foreigners,
\nwhose logic is linear. But in Indonesia, it's different.\"<\/p>\n
He played with words in the picture of the labyrinth in Mine
\nField. He said 'a mine' could means a charge of high explosives
\nburied in the ground or 'mine' could mean that which belongs to
\nme.<\/p>\n
\"It's a joke on how you understand the visual and verbal
\npun ... 'mine' is peaceful but can be very dangerous.\"<\/p>\n
Viewing his works is like looking at the real world frozen in
\ntime in paintings and lithographs. His creative process begins
\nwith a visit to his place of interest, where he takes photographs
\nor makes a few sketches.<\/p>\n
Once, he discovered that the object of his artistic work had
\ndisappeared. He realized at that moment that he was on a mission
\nto record traditional scenes that could one day be swept away by
\nmodernity.<\/p>\n
Lithography is a medium where the artist makes a master on
\nsmooth stone or a metal plate before reproducing it through the
\nprint process. He said that a single artwork took him months from
\nspotting a scene to drawing the images.<\/p>\n
In his works, he sees Jakarta as a city with two contrasting
\nfaces; the old and the new, the rich and the poor. A la Mode, for
\nexample, pictures clothes drying in front of small, low shack
\nwith a skyscraper as the backdrop.<\/p>\n
\"I like to play with the idea of juxtaposition, like the new
\nand the old. Indonesia has a lot of contrasts. And Jakarta
\nfollows the same pattern. It has the rich and the poor in the
\nsame area,\" said Pattern, who came to Indonesia with his wife,
\nHelen Vanwel, in late 1988.<\/p>\n
The latest of his lithographs include four pictures on East
\nTimor. But don't expect to see blood and gore, the military and
\nmilitias on guard or scenes of people queuing to vote.<\/p>\n
East Timor in Pattern's works reflects the tranquility and
\nmystery emerging from a tree, houses and a church, all of them
\nframed by stone walls. One of the pictures is from Manatutu and
\nthe others from Dili.<\/p>\n
\"The lithographs were produced in 2000, all of them
\nrepresenting the destruction in East Timor. The images look
\nthrough the hope,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Most of his works are almost devoid of living creatures.<\/p>\n
\"I keep people out of my work. My interest is in the land. If
\nyou put a person inside the land, your eyes will go to the person
\nand the land, the city will stay in the background.\"<\/p>\n
Some 63 lithographs and nine paintings are on sale at prices
\nranging from US$50 to $3,500 at the exhibition, which was opened
\nby the Canadian Ambassador to Indonesia Ferry de Kerchkhove on
\nNov. 27.<\/p>\n
-- Inbox<\/p>\n
Ken Pattern's solo exhibition is held at KOI
\nGallery\/Restaurant on Jl. Mahakam I\/2 from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
\nuntil Dec. 31. The Galeri will be closed from Dec. 15 to Dec. 21
\nfor Idul Fitri.<\/p>",
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