Beny Achmadi finds freedom in mosaic

Beny Achmadi finds freedom in mosaic

Reita Malaon, Contributor, Jakarta

In Western culture, mosaic has been a form through which to
express creative energy for a very long time indeed. The work of
Antoni Gaudi, the renowned Spanish architect, is to a large
degree distinguished by his mosaic compositions.

Gaudi's expressive and cosmopolitan use of polychrome ceramic
tiling in the Casa Battlo or the Sagrada Familia intensifies the
haunting feeling his work inspires.

In Indonesia, mosaic as an art has hardly been a part of
traditional artwork. The rich hues of nature's colors are mostly
represented through Indonesia's painting and textile heritage.
Thus, a great deal of interest was shown in a contemporary mosaic
work exhibition that was held for two weeks at the Puzzle
Gallery, Cinere, South Jakarta. The exhibition itself was closed
on Sept. 14.

It was the first showing for architect-turned-mosaic-artist,
Beny Achmadi. The Medan born artist started his professional
career as an architect. He only turned to mosaic in the late
1990's.

"I found freedom to express myself in mosaic," he said.
"Architecture is a collective work. There are so many
interdependent variables in the process. I still and will always
do architectural work, yet it is the liberation of mosaic work
that inspires me for now."

The presentation titled Mosaic of Life featured various forms
of functional art and mosaic painting, with mundane everyday
objects transformed into a bright spectrum of colors enhanced
with personal meanings.

In Satu Keluarga (One Family) he interprets the warm dialogue
of a family through a set of Lombok terracotta bowls. The
solitary toil of a gold miner is also presented through Pendulang
Emas yang Kesepian (The Lonely Gold Miner), which takes the form
of a teapot.

Various sources of design have influenced Beny's work. A
Turkish influence is quite obviously apparent in his Pesona Timur
Tengah (The Exotic Middle East) work. The Aztec Sun is visible in
Matahari (The Sun), a brightly colored mirror frame.

In his Dunia Cucuku (My grandchildren's world), Beny tells a
story about his grandchildren through a geometric composition. He
uses the Winnie the Pooh character as a rather simplistic symbol
for a toddler's presence in the work.

Among the exhibition pieces there were also pure mosaic
compositions on display. One composition titled Fruity seemed to
stand out from the rest. It contained an explosion of multirange
colors with a platter of fruit in the center not unlike the eye
of a storm. In this exhibit, Beny succeeds in conveying his
passion to the audience.

Although highly crafted and giving much pleasure to the eyes,
most of the items on display failed to render any emotional
shock. The artist seemed to be still dwelling in an aesthetical
presentation.

The use of functional objects mainly in their conventional
form also hindered his exploration of shapes. Clay artist, F.
Widayanto, is another artist who also produces functional art
objects, including dinner ware. Yet Widayanto has succeeded in
treading the fine line between his pure art creations and his
more commercial products.

Then again, after this first showing it is clear that Beny
Achmadi holds a lot of promise for the future. As the artist
himself admitted, "This is just the beginning of my journey. I
have a long road ahead of me and I'm going to take up the
challenge."