Culture and time bridged through art of batik
Culture and time bridged through art of batik
By Barbara Healy
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Someone once said that artists are "people whose gift of seeing transcends the world of appearances" and whose "sight signifies insight".
Such is true in the case of Nia Fliam and Agus Ismoyo, hand (tulis) and cap batik artists from the Brahma Tirta Sari studio in Yogyakarta. The studio name itself is the Hindu-Javanese expression meaning "creativity is the source of all knowledge". Their work is defined as a transition toward greater truth rather than as an end in itself.
One might say Nia and Ismoyo's journey began many centuries ago when traditional motif, reflecting Kejawen (Javanese philosophy), evolved. In a more contemporary sense, their quest has been characterized by a series of events which one might call 'coincidence'. However, when one sees their intricate, dynamic and savvy designs on fine cotton or silk fabric lengths, it seems more likely that destiny brought them to where they are in their work today.
Nia's determination toward her goal appeared early in her career as she studied and created art in the United States. Coming from a family of quilters in Colorado, she developed a creative foundation and philosophy. She received a scholarship to the Boston Museum School and at the time was doing watercolor painting.
During the course of her study she worked in a textile studio for a year focusing on West African textiles. She saw an Indonesian canting tool (used in batik tulis to apply wax to fabric) in this studio which sparked her curiosity. Nia began to read all she could about Indonesia and the art of batik. She entered an independent study program at Pratt Institute in New York and studied textile art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
It was a challenging time, she admits. Funding for schooling or art projects was limited. Adhering to her vision, she nonetheless persevered.
She focused on batik work to complete her textile design degree. And then through what must have been fate, Nia met a weaver with whom she shared her dream of studying in Indonesia. This woman and her husband provided funding for artists every year and decided to support Nia in a one year project of studying traditional batik with a woman from the Kraton in Yogyakarta.
Equipped with Bahasa Indonesia, she set out for Yogyakarta and stepped into a purely Javanese environment where very little if any Bahasa Indonesia was spoken. Thus, the "transmission of knowledge of Javanese life and traditional batik methods was quite visual and spiritual," she said. She extended her time in Indonesia by teaching while creating batik at the art studio of a couple who lived near the Kraton.
During this time she met Agus Ismoyo and they began their life and career together. By living with Ismoyo's family for 7 years, she developed a keen understanding of Kejawen and a genuine respect for the values behind the Javanese way of life.
Agus Ismoyo's family came from a strong line of batik artists. His father is a Hindu priest; thus the practice of Kejawen was well-rooted in Ismoyo's life and work. Just after high school he began serious painting using abstract figures and oil on canvas. He is a self-taught artist, in line with the traditional Javanese concept that spiritual progress is an individual process of discovery. His focus became batik about the time he met Nia.
The two have been featured in numerous international exhibitions. The most recent was a hand (tulis) and cap batik showing called "Jagad Jagad Jagad", at the Australian Cultural Center in Jakarta in April of 1994. Among highlights of their career, according to Nia, has been their connection with Aborigines from the northern regions of Australia. Nia describes their work with these people both in Yogya and in Australia as a prime example of the "transmission of knowledge between one people and another through a shared source of energy and traditional ties". Aboriginal textile art parallels that of Indonesia in regard to spiritualism.
Recently nine Aboriginal batik artists from Utopia Batik in Australia came to Yogyakarta for a cultural exchange with Brahma Tirta Sari. This experience according to Ismoyo and Nia showed the importance of developing a sense of responsibility for understanding other cultures. These myriad cultures reflect the essence of our life experience, as Ismoyo explains: "Through cultural exchange one comes into contact with the creative processes of cultures. These reflect the lessons that each culture has to give to the world and, at Brahma Tirta Sari, these respective creative processes were seen through the media of batik."
One can see patterns of the courtly batik era and also an invigorating, energy-emitting modern flair successfully blended in Nia and Ismoyo's work. They often work together on one piece, and Ismoyo's more fiery images mesh with Nia's "water shapes" to create a synergistic whole which is visually brilliant. This creative process signifies to them the notion of self as collective rather than the Western idea of the individual as of primary concern.
Their work is "reinterpretation, not just borrowing", according to Nia, encompassing visual, technical, and philosophical influences. Ismoyo feels a strong tie with his ancestors and his goal is to continue to "merge with and carry on their spirit in the essential sense rather then through specific symbols and philosophies".
Thus their quest for "the collective root of creativity" continues. To experience their fine textiles, visit the Brahma Tirta Sari Studio in Yogyakarta (telp. 0274 377881) or take in their esthetics at the Argasoka Gallery in Ubud, Bali on Monkey Forest Road (telp. 0361 96231).