Impact of modern life on artworks depend on each individual
By Carla Bianpoen
JAKARTA ((JP): There has been much talk about what role artists should play and what focus their works should have in our changing society.
One view is that art works should reflect national features or values. This is contradicted by another view which finds that nationalist art is increasingly becoming redundant, given the continuously redrawing of new borders. Yet another view takes into consideration the growth of a new global culture based on what some people call, the rampant virus of consumerism.
However, all these views may just be opinions, of which the impact on the real world of art may be a big question mark. Those who have matured through experience know that ultimately, it depends on the individual artist how to deal with change in their own individual lives and in their artistic creations. That such can result in an exciting variety is shown in the sculpture exhibition at the Regent Hotel which opened yesterday and runs until Nov. 30.
Jointly sponsored by The Jakarta Post and the Regent Hotel, four leading Indonesian sculptors are presenting the impact of modern life on their artistic creations. They come from three major centers of art in Indonesia: Anusapati from Yogyakarta, Dolorosa Sinaga and Edith Ratna Soerjosoejarso from Jakarta, and Pintor Sirait from Bandung. They have all had education and experience both in Indonesia and abroad.
Born in Surakarta, Anusapati lives and works in Yogyakarta. An important direction in his art works emphasizes the transformation of long standing domestic and traditional tools or forms into contemporary sculpture. To some viewers, his art may appear like handicraft, but art connoisseurs are intrigued by the almost unfinished wooden material and his simple forms which lie between the primitive and the abstract. His engagement with wood seems to stem from his close relationship with nature. Using wood is in fact an attempt to bring nature to life. "The trees used to be our brothers as we all are the children of mother nature", he explains.
Dolorosa Sinaga hardly needs an introduction. She has participated in numerous exhibitions and has been involved in many art events. Preoccupied with what happens in the society she lives in, Dolorosa explores the lives and the emotions of human beings.
Her sculptures are mirrors of the overarching issues which occupy the common people in society. Her artistic power is felt in the tension that vibrates through the sculpture. It is interesting to note that almost all of her sculptures express a sense of suffering humanity, and among these the majority depict women as harrowing figures.
"There is no doubt that women are the most oppressed creatures", she contends when asked about the three sculptures entitled Whaling. The works present three women expressing repressed suffering. This does not mean that she has no eye for the joys of life, as is evident from the sculpture The Dance of Joy.
Edith Ratna Soerjosoejarso is a sculptor by education, but has to divide her artistic involvement with her professional career at the Ministry of Trade, and currently at the Taman Mini Indonesia. It is amazing how she manages her busy schedule, and still maintains a firm footing in the world of sculpture.
Like Anusapati, Edith also works with wood, but unlike him her works are a larger size. Exploring its natural texture, loving it for its natural quality, she is intrigued by the material and attempts to bring out the best in her sculptures. Often monumental or decorative, her works are marked by fluid forms that hinge on the abstract.
Being of a large size, is no surprise that many of the forms have been carved by special electric tools. Her engagement with the human experience appears in a number of sculptures where love plays an important role.
Pintor Sirait comes with an extremely intriguing collection of sculptures, inspired by the lotus flower. The inspiration did not come "by accident". Pintor spent some time searching for a way to properly place his identity in the Indonesian context.
Born in Germany, educated in the USA, but having his roots in Indonesia, the artist had to face complexities many of his compatriots do not have. He found the lotus, a flower growing in many places in Indonesia.
Its form is found in the configuration of the Borobudur Temple, and even in the ruff of a Betawi wedding attire. His lotus explorations are like poetic expressions of the artist's progressive philosophies as he observes the falling of the petals, and the popping up of the seeds, making links with his personal relationships to his environment. They are also manifestations of his passion for the material. Both firm and delicate, his sculptures in rust contain an air of freshness and directness, pointing to an extraordinary aesthetic.