Artist Guh S. Mana on an endless voyage of discovery
Artist Guh S. Mana on an endless voyage of discovery
Emmy Fitri, Surakarta, Central Java
Contrary to Picasso's famous statement, "I do not search, I find," Guh S. Mana keeps on a continual search even when it seems he has found what he is looking for.
Guh has found that painting has become his medium to express his restless mind, to voice his sometimes mixed feelings and to carve out the meaning of his existence.
As well as painting, he writes poems and experiments with music and theater, as part of his soul searching.
Guh recently showed off some of his works, hanging on the walls of his family's residence, which also functions as a small bakery and snack shop in the heart of Surakarta.
The paintings -- mostly on massive canvasses -- are all of women's faces with sad expressions, the elongated shapes immediately reminiscent of Modigliani's.
"Yes, I do admire Modigliani and Picasso. They are great painters but it's not appropriate to compare my works with them. I even don't see the likeness or resemblance between mine and Modigliani's," Guh said.
Unlike Modigliani, who used mostly shocking prime colors to hightlight the facial expressions of his subject, Guh chooses pastel colors, the empty space around them filled with rich ticks, curls and dots. In Guh's works, the dark, bitter expression of the women comes from their half-closed or closed eyes.
They are not pitying or misogynistic; Guh said he admired women and could see the hidden beauty in each of them. "For me, they are all beautiful with unique characters."
He does not adhere to a Western-influenced standard of beauty -- fair-skinned, straight hair, slim -- but is charmed by the unusual.
"I treat my painting like my lover, with tender strokes, and the gentle scratch or smooth touch of my hands or with my brush. I want them to look beautiful. I make them beautiful," he said.
He kisses every painting once it's done.
In the different medium of paper and ballpoint, Guh showed his skillful drawings of human expressions. His recent solo exhibition "Thousand of Faces" was recognized by the Indonesia Museum of Records (MURI) for drawing different, uniquely distinct facial expressions.
"Many people asked me why only 1,000 and not 1,001 or 1,002. I simply answer that 1,000 already represents the uncountable figures a human can create, for it's only God has the power to create the unlimited figures. We also have the expression orang dengan seribu wajah (a person with a thousand faces), to denote a hypocrital person. Perhaps, that's what I want to convey that we have here, among us, people with thousands of faces," he said.
"People are most welcome to try breaking this record. For me it's not the award and the acknowledgment that matters, it's more about my personal submission to God that I have the limit to create. One thousand signifies a sum of figures and more than that only God can create," Guh said.
At a glance, the sketches remind us of Cecil Beaton's squiggly sketches of women with upswept hairstyles, richly adorned with jewelry and quaint expressions.
Brought up in a mixed Chinese-Javanese household, Guh was quickly exposed to diverse cultural experiences. He spent most of his youth in Surakarta and later studied architecture in Yogyakarta.
As an artist, Guh passed the learning stages of a painter to become what he is now.
His paintings in the early 1990s were dominated by still lifes and natural qualities. His inner power, and his ability to show who he really is, first emerged in the past four years with the scratch and stroke works of acrylic and pen.
Although he lives in peaceful Surakarta, Guh and his need to know are probably a bit "wild" for his surroundings. But he survives, always taking new opportunities to meet new people and find out more about them.
"I like to meet people and talk with them. Sometimes I can get new knowledge or even something more than what I actually expect from engaging in discussion with new people."
Although his paintings are on offer for relatively high prices at some galleries, Guh maintains a low profile. He's not selfish with his talents as he believes the arts are for people to enjoy and he has a skill he must share with others.
"Artworks should not necessarily be expensive. We can just draw picture on a piece of paper like I usually do. Every one who gets the calling should just nurture their talent."
"I find different satisfaction when I assist a vendor ketupat tahu (tofu and rice cake in vegetable salad) who really, seriously wants to paint and also when I make the wife of a governor let go of all the protocol and sit at the roadside, observing life at a traditional market," he said.