Indonesia in the eyes of Polish painter Elzbieta

By Aendra H. Medita

JAKARTA (JP): A Polish painter has captured on her canvas subjects on Indonesia expressively but ignored the essence of forms.

Bali is always a subject which deeply impresses a painter. Most painters visiting Bali have put on canvas their impression of this island's charm. Quite a few great painters have successfully turned this impression, obtained through intense contact with the Balinese atmosphere, into great works. Wolter Spies, Arie Smit, Antonio Blanco are some of the great artists who have made Bali their residence out of a deep love for this island. They were charmed not with only the exoticism of the island but also with its aura.

It is in this tradition that a Polish woman painter, Elzbieta Szolomiak, put on canvas her love for Bali and Indonesian cities that she had visited. She was in Indonesia between 1993 and 1997 not only to enjoy its beautiful scenery but also to see enough of the country to love it and put this love on canvas. She was not content with just this as she also introduced Indonesia to the Polish in her exhibition at the Asia Pacific Museum in Warsaw, held in conjunction with Indonesia's Independence Day in 1999.

Since then, the exhibition called My Indonesia, has traveled to many countries, including Indonesia. There are no fewer than 40 works that are being exhibited at Duta Fine Art Gallery, Kemang Utara Road N. 55, South Jakarta from Sept. 29 through to Oct. 15, 2000.

Elzbieta, who has fallen in love with Indonesia, expressively presented uniquely Indonesian features in My Indonesia. Born in Jaroslaw, Poland, in 1940, she graduated from the Fine Arts School of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland, in 1968. The painter has traveled extensively, exhibiting her diverse works over 40 times in 25 cities in Poland and elsewhere like Japan, Austria, the Republic of Czech and Indonesia.

This ongoing exhibition is one in a series that she had organized in many places back home, including in the Asia-Pacific Museum in Warsaw, Poland, a museum that keeps a collection of artifacts from Indonesia and generally supports Indonesia and its culture in Poland. Since its establishment in 1973 by Andrzej Nusantara Wawrzyniak, "the greatest friend and admirer of Indonesia-Poland relations", this Asia-Pacific Museum has successfully organized over 500 arts activities in some 80 venues, including painting exhibitions, films, concerts, festivals and fine arts exhibitions.

The moment you see Szolomiak's paintings you will be reminded of the painting standards prevailing in Indonesia and also of expressionist Balinese painting. One thing distinguishes it from reality, though. Her works concerns more with the understanding of the atmosphere rather than the essence of forms. She gives prominence to the atmosphere of the visual objects not the objects per se. Even if the figure is clearly visible as such, it would be put on canvas with a sweep of emptiness.

Take for example, Father and Child, which she painted in Bali in 1997. She presented the central figure, a father carrying his child in his arm, without bothering to resort to the strength of the details in the countenance of the father and that of the child he is carrying. Instead, she has drawn a firm line between the figure and the background. The strong background, Balinese style, is of a woman carrying objects on her head.

In two other paintings, Procession In Bali and Fisherman and Boats, her expressive force is clearly visible. Her consciousness of the visual aspect of the object is very strong because the atmosphere recorded is a landscape. The result is great expressiveness. Regarding figures, her painting titled Dancer, Balinese Offering lends prominence to the substance of a dancer's figure although in essence this form has allowed its own freedom.

However, the strong character of her paintings lies in reinforced lines which allow the precipitation of form to possess the aura of the atmosphere so recorded. The same goes with some other works, which are not much of a variation but are the outcome of a relatively standardized process. In all her works, Szolomiak almost entirely relies on the power of sharp bright colors to give the impression of liveliness when they are seen.

Indeed, her paintings are highly expressive but she has captured only the atmosphere and not the real essence of forms. Perhaps this is only a small part of her entire work. Or, perhaps it is her own style to make use of fleeting forms in order to get away from the realism of Balinese painting, where real forms are dominant. At least, with these works she has been added to a list of foreign painters enchanted by Bali.