Teen artist has monsters as central theme<\/p>\n
Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
He is only 12 years old and has just graduated from an
\nelementary school. However, Wiku Pulangasih of Yogyakarta has
\ncreated some 15,000 drawings and paintings of mostly watercolor
\non paper and more than 200 acrylic paintings on large canvas.<\/p>\n
His acrylic on canvas paintings are currently on exhibit at
\nthe Sudut Gallery in Yogyakarta. Nine of them are quite large
\nmeasuring some 5 meters by 2 meters.<\/p>\n
The exhibit, entitled The World Cup Mystery, which is also the
\ntitle of a piece on display, was inspired by the recent 2002
\nWorld Cup Championship in Korea and Japan.<\/p>\n
\"This year's World Cup, as I saw it, was really full of
\nmysteries. Many unpredictable things occurred. Common sense and
\non-paper calculations just didn't work,\" said Wiku. He mentioned
\nseveral big names such as such as Argentina, France, and Uruguay
\nthat crashed out in early rounds.<\/p>\n
\"I think God had intervened in the big event this time and
\ngave us many surprises,\" said Wiku, who has started painting as a
\ntoddler.<\/p>\n
In The World Cup Mystery he has a portrayal of the France's
\nbalding wonder, Zinedine Zidane wearing an odd look on his face
\nwalking off the soccer field in disgrace while other players
\nlaughed at him.<\/p>\n
In another work, he portrays goalkeeper Toni Sylva of the
\nunderdog team of Senegal as having long and winding arms with the
\nfists in the shape of heads.<\/p>\n
\"It's as if Sylva's hands are able to think like heads do and
\ncandidly catch the ball,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Other renowned soccer stars that Wiku has featured include
\nGabriel Batistuta of Argentina, Miroslav Klose of Germany and
\nDavid Beckham of England.<\/p>\n
In The World Cup Mystery, Wiku divided the huge canvas with
\nvertical dark lines into five different squares of different
\nsizes in which he describes different scenes of the championship
\naccording to his own imagination.<\/p>\n
In fact, weird and imaginative figures, monsters, ghosts and
\ncharacters from the Greek mythology have long been the main
\nfigures in his paintings.<\/p>\n
\"He read 18 books on Greek mythology in only three months when
\nhe was still in kindergarten,\" Wiku's father, theater actor
\nSriharjanto Sahid, 41, said.<\/p>\n
The little artist has been getting inspiration from all
\npossible sources, books, newspapers, videogames, tv programs and
\nreal-life experiences.<\/p>\n
Wiku also exhibits eight paintings with different themes
\nalbeit still featuring deformed figures.<\/p>\n
In A Story from Beijing that was dominated by golden yellow
\ncolor, Wiku presents the monkey in Chinese folk tales Sun Go Kong
\nas his central figure. The monkey has a tail of a dragon,
\nsymbolizing one's never-ending conflicts.<\/p>\n
\"I was inspired by an opera I watched while visiting Beijing
\ntwo years ago,\" said Wiku, adding that his visit to China and
\nMalaysia in 2000 had inspired him a lot and helped him create at
\nleast two paintings: A Story from Beijing and A night in Kuala
\nLumpur.<\/p>\n
In fact, he said, it was also the visits that encouraged him
\nto start making huge size acrylic paintings on canvas, especially
\nafter seeing the Great Wall of China, the Petronas Tower in
\nMalaysia, the giant Buddhist statues and Kwan Im Goddess statue.<\/p>\n
Wiku is planning to make another 20 very large paintings this
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Born in Yogyakarta on Dec. 20, 1989, Wiku is the eldest of
\nfive siblings the famous Sriharjanto. Wiku's mother, Woro
\nAnindyah also is a well-known painter.<\/p>\n
The little prodigy reportedly started painting when he was
\nonly 10 months old starting with some abstract paintings. He had
\nhis first solo exhibition in 1992 when he was only 2 and a half
\nyears old.<\/p>\n
His younger sisters Seruni Bojawati, 11, and Ratu
\nPandan Wangi, 7, are also talented painters and so is his two-
\nyear-old younger brother Satrio Kinasih.<\/p>\n
The exhibition runs until July 14, 2002, at Sudut Gallery, Jl.
\nLangenarjan 12A, Yogyakarta, Tel. 0818268561.<\/p>",
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