Dolorosa Sinaga: Finding her own way

Dolorosa Sinaga: Finding her own way

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta

Dolorosa Sinaga's second solo exhibition, currently being held at
Nadi Gallery, underlines her continuous engagement with social
issues, which she explores primarily through the female form.

The human body in its female representation continues to be
Sinaga's metaphor to express the plight of the socially
marginalized, discriminated and repressed in society

While grief stood out in her first solo exhibition in 2001 --
a retrospective of 20 years' active creative work -- and was
expressed through lines and texture, particularly prominent in
the undulating folds of dresses, this time, the artist peels off
the layers, if any, to reveal the bare facts, leaving the
abstract -- a stylized purity of form.

In her new collection, it seems Sinaga is making a statement
-- she has departed from her previous intense attachment to the
legendary Kaethe Kollwitz -- she is now following her own path.

In this sense, the sculpture titled Will find my way contains
a double meaning.

If one wants to know the situation of women, one only needs to
look at Sinaga's sculptures, which changes with the tenor of time
and environment.

For example, from the lifeless surrender as depicted in
Olympia, through a woman in an enclosure, and in Tragic Tendency
(1994), which depicts a lifeless female figure against the harsh
lattice of a cage, Dolorosa Sinaga goes on to express pain, grief
and immense suffering in the stirring dress folds and texture of
The Grief, Sister take me to dance with you, a collection of
sculptures in 2001.

But a growing strength has since then emerged from the depths
of desperation, and women from all walks of life now stand
together in a rare dynamic of solidarity as expressed in
Solidaritas (2000), Avante (2001)..

Building strength from within did not happen overnight, but
involved a long process of overcoming and transforming pain into
a power that was to liberate the women from the shackles of
desperation.

Resistante (1996) reveals the process of this transformation,
showing a woman desperately trying to squeeze out the pain in her
breast with one hand, while her other hand, hardly visible behind
her back, is clenched into a fist.

In just a few years, women have become visible, albeit with
many constraints still. In the political arena, they have
progressed with their demand for a 30 percent quota for women
legislators and, eliminating the age-old excuse that there are no
women qualified enough to be in leading political positions,
Cetro (Center for Electoral Reform) has come up with 100 highly
qualified women who are eligible for the position of legislator.

The recent issue of Inul, who has been intimidated with
religious arguments and the accusation that her "drilling" dance
style may have caused an increase in rape cases, has met with
strong support from the general public -- and quite ironically
for Inul's accusers, they are confronted with the fact that all
their brouhaha appear to be counterproductive.

Artists, women as well as men, housewives and activists, the
National Commission on Violence Against Women -- and even former
president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid -- came to the defense of
this village girl who had become victim to intimidation. If this
is a sign at all, then we may as well assume with Sinaga, that
new avenues have indeed opened up.

The sculpture Will find my way shows a woman going on her way
with new determination, carrying her bag slung in a carefree
manner over her shoulder. The piece represents woman's rise from
suffering and grief, from being vulnerable and helpless to being
strong and determined to go the way she has chosen, even if it
means going it alone.

With some sculptures still exploring the depths of sorrow, the
exhibition strikes the viewer as a procession of important
moments, providing insights to the process a woman undergoes as
she struggles within herself, finally to rise empowered with new
hopes.

It is easily detected through the titles of the pieces, that
posture represents a woman's moments of truth. Avante, a
sculpture showing women still clinging to each other, but with a
few pointing to a new direction, gave the signal for women to
overcome their social shackles.

Will find my way may be a reassuring image when nervously
stepping into the new, awkwardly holding a bag in Crossing the
line. Proceeding further, the woman relaxes as other women follow
suit, Leaving home. Holding each other for a while, as in The
Three Graces 2 and Embracing, they then each go their separate
ways, Walking alone, and boldly as they Fear no power. Their
courage is revealed as they challenge, Try me, and stand tall in
I, the witness.

These skeletal, elongated figures with emaciated bodies
radiate a spirit freed from heavy burdens, and they even dance on
their way, in solitude as in The Dancer, or together as in Tari
Rebana.

As Sinaga continues to use the female body as her vehicle of
expression, this should not distract from the fact that it is the
artist's metaphor to represent the human body to represent the
human being that is discriminated, marginalized, trampled on,
repressed and abused, the very same body telling the story in
different periods of time and through various stages in life. The
artist underlines this with her sculpture titled Satu kata saja:
Lawan (Just one word: Oppose), paying homage to Wiji Thukul, the
grassroots human rights poet who disappeared without a trace
during the Soeharto New Order era.

In Via Dolorosa, the title piece of the exhibition, Sinaga
transparently shows whose side she is on. Challenging the world
in the pieces Fear no power, Try me, and Will find my way, she is
bursting with inexorable energy, and optimism, as she declares
that truth will ultimately prove victorious.

The Nobel Prize Laureate for Literature of 1982, Colombian
author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, has said that every great author
always tries to write the same book over and over again -- it
just takes different forms. The core that compels the author or
artist to create, is always the same.

It seems Dolorosa Sinaga, with her compelling oeuvre, is
proving him right.

Via Dolorosa Solo Exhibition by Dolorosa Sinaga; April 29-May
13, 2003; Nadi Gallery, Jl. Kedoya Raya 53, Jakarta 11520;
Phone: (021) 581 8129 Fax: (021) 580 7984.