Deborah Nolan, an artist with a noble cause

Deborah Nolan, an artist with a noble cause

By Pavan Kapoor

JAKARTA (JP): While the majority of artists find vent to human
emotions in external metaphysical objects, Deborah Nolan,
attempts a manifestation of these internal landscapes and how
they manifest themselves in the human figure.

The art works of this artist from Canada, who is presently
residing in Yogyakarta, are being exhibited at Warung Badung in
Central Jakarta. The exhibition is quite appropriately entitled
"Human Landscapes: Figurative Work" and was opened by Canadian
Ambassador to Indonesia Ken Sunquista. The event runs until Dec.
22.

Curiosity is aroused when one observes that all Nolan's
exhibited works involve a precise female anatomical figure in the
throes of a strong emotion -- happiness and melancholy playing
the two polar contrasts in the human landscape. But the curiosity
is quelled when one learns that Nolan is an arts advisor with
CUSO, a Canadian organization which supports alliances for global
social causes. She is based at the Yakkum Rehabilitation Center
in Yogyakarta, a rehabilitation center for disabled youth and
children and hence she is not simply an artist but one with a
noble social cause behind her.

"For me, the human body is the ultimate symbol for the human
condition," informs Nolan. "In the ongoing creation of my work, I
am amazed at the contrast of fragility and strength in the body;
a smudge, a line changes this balance."

The onlooker is forced to confront the body in its raw form --
unadorned, unapologetic, in states of deep sweeping emotions.

All Nolan's artworks feature women and her feminism is
distinct in the words inscribed in the painting entitled, The
Gaze, which shows a woman with one eye of a man and one eye that
of a woman. The two eyes are magazine cutouts and simply pasted
as if the artist is unconcerned about displaying her painting
capability and is solely concentrating upon forwarding the
message: "The image of women is to flatter men who treat lens as
a substitute for the eye of an imaginary onlooker." Below these
words are what seem to be a message for all womanhood of the new
millennium: "We will be who we want; where we want; with whom we
want; in what way we want; when we want; and the time is now; the
place is here."

One of the most imposing works of Nolan is aptly entitled
Lightness of Movement. With a deft understanding of humanoid
proportions, Nolan has succeeded in inlaying a fluidity of motion
in the graceful poses or landscapes, as she prefers to call them.
The painting is in three panels, each in a varied combination of
turquoise and orange with a plum colored background. The dark
background acts as a weight to the relative flight of the
humanoid figure in the foreground.

Nolan nurtured a fascination for drawing the human body right
from childhood and claims to have converted her school biology
and anatomy figures into pieces of art. A peep into her creative
mind as a student is apparent in the multilayered artwork called
Layers of Self. It looks like a book standing upright with the
pages open. On closer inspection one notices that each page
presents a female figure and is actually a framed artwork
depicting the various layers or aspects of the human body. It
houses the mental, biological, astronomical, geographical and
other aspects that Nolan sees as part of the human landscape.

Also striking are the eight-piece series entitled Key to
Understanding. In black and white and shades of gray, the series
are mounted on 3D frames that add effective depth to the
paintings. Again the subjects are feminine in various poses of
repose that could show a wide range of emotions. The human
landscape changes only slightly in each frame but in the process
changing the entire meaning of the posture. From repose and rest
to dejection and torment -- Nolan leaves the onlooker to travel
his own individual journey with his own interpretations.

The impact of Nolan's artworks is usually maintained with
minimum fuss over details of clothing, background etc. a simple
figure in a flat background. With masterful strokes and poignant
choice of colors she attempts to portray her meaning.

She has pertinently done away with the use of a frame or even
a canvas in the biggest painting of the exhibition which covers a
whole wood-paneled side of the back part of the restaurant.
Untitled is simply taped onto the wood paneling. Done on simple
carton paper the six humans sit in various postures of grief,
agony and silent torment.

The implementation of strong strokes is perhaps a sign of the
inner strength of this painter who chooses to work with the
handicapped and disabled children. Although Warung Badung seems
quite deserted during the day due to the Ramadhan fasting period,
the evenings would be an excellent time to visit Human
Landscapes.