A flower blooms on canvas with young artist Ira

A flower blooms on canvas with young artist Ira

By Mehru Jaffer

JAKARTA (JP): It is the turn of Ira Hartini Natapraja to paint
the town red, for the 22-year-old has much to celebrate.

She is the newest recruit to join the army of artists painting
here with the opening of Metamorphosis of a Hibiscus, her maiden
exhibition, at the Regent Hotel in South Jakarta.

Although her style is abstract, it is not difficult to spot
the five-petaled hibiscus, mostly painted in the color of blood,
in each of the 45 works. But it is not revolution or anger that
comes to her mind when she sees red. It is not even passion,
sexuality or the red earth.

What the color red inspires in her are bounding images of
youth, playfulness and supreme good cheer.

And she hates to dilute primary colors, liberally using the
colors blue, green and yellow as well to paint her hibiscus.
Outlines of other creatures of the earth like snails, slugs and
even snakes are often to be spotted in her paintings as well. The
spider also seems engrossed in working alongside her on the
canvas.

She prefers not to leave any corner of the canvas in its
natural color, covering it instead with coats of white paint to
make sure that the primary colors she uses really stand out
against a very chalky background. The result is a study in such
stunning contrasts that it make the colors of Lego Land seem pale
by comparison.

Growing up in the highlands of West Java, Ira remembers being
surrounded all the time by an exotic array of flora and fauna.
But it was in her Jakarta home that she found herself mesmerized
one day by the spectacular beauty of the hibiscus that had spread
its flaming red color like fire beside the serene white water of
the swimming pool.

Ever since, Ira has been unable to get the hibiscus out of her
mind, a flower that according to Hindu mythology is sacred to
Ganesh, the elephant god, god of good luck who destroys obstacles
and makes all dreams come true. And its flaming red color holds
its own meanings in many different contexts. In Christianity, for
instance, red is the color of the robes worn by cardinals and is
considered a symbol of Christ whose wine is red and bread white.
Red is also the color of royalty on earth.

The hermit in ancient times used the hibiscus to help him make
his mantras and to enhance his concentration while meditating.
Today, Ira uses this energetic flower as the main totem in her
drawings that have helped her attract visitors to the exhibition
like proverbial bees to the hive.

The youngest in a family of 10 children, Ira's love of drawing
nearly got drowned in the hustle and bustle of a large household
in the small West Java town of Subang. It was a chance meeting
with Dhaimeler, the French artist, that changed her entire life
and helped her talents blossom.

Dhaimeler not only declared her drawings promising but also
his undying love for her. He immediately married the Sundanese
beauty who traces her ancestry to the family of the ancient
neighboring kingdom of Galuh.

Her relationship with Dhaimeler has greatly helped Ira
to concentrate on enhancing her love for the arts.

A trip to Europe soon after her marriage included visits to
numerous museums and art exhibitions and filled her with such
inspiration that she still is unable to take her hands away from
canvas and paints even today.

While still with her parents, it was repeatedly suggested to
her that she study something like medicine or engineering so that
she could follow a profitable profession, something which would
be lucrative in the long run. Art, after all, is for starving
artists, or so many think.

But she remembers rejecting all those prosaic subjects even
as she did not know at that time what it was that she really
wanted to do. She had liked to write in her spare time and
designed comic books, writing her own text and illustrating them,
unlike her other siblings who are involved in some business
activity or another.

Eventually, when she found her new husband, she also found her
new direction in life.

After she met Dhaimeler, she began painting in the classical
Cubist style in imitation of her husband, using similar color
combinations as well. Then she enrolled for classes at the
Academy of Arts in Jakarta (IKJ) and, after months of practice,
she seems to be now emerging with an abstract style of her own
that is bound to find greater depth as the youthful
painter matures with time.

As Ira's exhibition draws new fans, many an eye is focused on
this new flower that is only just beginning to bud in the great,
big garden of art out there.

The exhibition in the lobby of the Regent is open until March
1. For further information telephone 2523456.