Balinese artist dabbles with 'barong' image

Balinese artist dabbles with 'barong' image

By Putu Wirata

DENPASAR (JP): Art and culture in Bali seem to grow in an
evolutionary way. The entire historical and cultural background
is a source of inspiration and expression of creativity for
painters and other artists.

Dozens of works by young painter Ketut Mastrum, 31, exhibited
at Chedi Gallery, Ubud, from Sept. 11 to Nov. 11, represent the
mythological and cultural background under the theme of barong,
the good powerful beast in the popular dance performance of the
same name.

Mastrum, a graduate of the Indonesian Arts College (STSI) in
Denpasar who also studied at the Polytechnic College for
Engraving in Tangeb village, does not provide conventional
representations of the barong. His is the realization of a
creation in combination with the technique of expressive
painting, but is later finished with details approaching the
traditional painting technique. He plays with a great variety of
colors to allow him to support the dynamics of the movements.

Why is Mastrum captivated by the barong? It is not only the
esthetics and exoticism that intrigue the young man. Mastrum was
born in Apuan village, Baturiti, Tabanan. In his village there
are two Hindu temples -- the Natarsari and the Pucak Padang Dewa
-- where scores of barong dancers gather every year in a ritual
ceremony attended by thousands of Hindus from the three regencies
of Gianyar, Badung and Tabanan. The young Mastrum was among the
villagers who often carried a barong when it was on a ritual trip
to villages for several days.

"The barong not only exudes mystery, but also penetrates into
my subconscious as something of spiritual value," Mastrum said
amid the bamboo-plaited walls of his studio in Denpasar. The fact
that the barong radiates mystery and is therefore sacred does not
need to be explained at great length. The selection of the wood,
the way to sculpt and then to "instill life" into it with the
pasupati (baptism) ceremony, constitute a series with a ritual
and social dimension. Scores of barong types are handed down and
sanctified by the Balinese community.

His cultural background and his deep personal involvement have
apparently profoundly marked Ketut Mastrum. Apart from the very
spontaneous and expressive paintings on canvas on exhibition at
Chedi Gallery, Mastrum has made scores of sketches of barong on
paper or a particular type of drawing paper using Chinese ink.
The barong sketches on paper indicate the spirit of his engraving
technique. The lines have rhythm, shaped eyes, fangs, teeth,
decorations on the head, fur, etc., drawn with admirable
accuracy. Here he controls breathing in order not to damage the
beauty of the lines.

On canvas, Mastrum starts his dialog by splashing his brush
spontaneously. He exhales and makes his hand dance at full
strength. These spontaneous sketches yield an image of something
moving rapidly. Then, when his strength has been sucked entirely
on canvas, he views the strokes to find a suitable place for the
barong's face. In this second stage, Mastrum draws with
concentration and self-control in the same way as traditional
painters draw with accurate detail. Therefore, at a distance of
two meters to three meters, what one sees on canvas is a number
of barong moving rapidly, seemingly to blur the beauty of the
details. However, if one comes closer at about 30 cms away, the
details of eyes, teeth, fangs and fur come into focus.

The presence of Mastrum, with his barong on canvas, has
apparently increased the number of Balinese artists who present
the roots of their culture using a new approach. He combines the
abstract, expressionist painting technique with the details of
the traditional technique. Indeed, there is nothing new on Ketut
Mastrum's canvas.

Art observer Jean Cocteau considers that Ketut Mastrum's
strength lies in the variety of colors. One is immediately
reminded of the festive colors of the sesajen (ritual offerings)
in Bali throughout the year. Maybe there is another force, an
indefinable force from the inner world. "When I am painting, I
often imagine the barong that I have seen at the Natarsari or
Pucak Padang Dawa temples," he said.

By imagining the things that way, he pays spiritual respect to
the sacredness of the barong as a mythological realization of the
incarnation of Siwa.

"I cannot free myself from such myths and sacred values. My
father was a pemangku (religious functionary), my grandfather was
a (wooden) barong mask sculptor," he said. Now Mastrum is also
capable of making barong masks. The possibility is not foreclosed
that the barong sculpture of Ketut Mastrum will be laid to rest
in a temple and later on worshiped by the community of the temple
owner.

"However, it is sure I will not stop at barong themes. There
are many things to be explored and I am looking for them," said
the painter whose barong painting combined with ritual images was
nominated for a Philip Morris award.