Irma returns to her true love
Irma returns to her true love
Carla Bianpoen, Contributor/Jakarta
When Irma left painting, her first love, to excel in the world of
fashion she may not have thought she would ultimately come back
to it. But the 30 paintings on display from Aug. 30 at Paulinart
Art Space and Studio here, show her love has never died.
Portraits of Javanese women with their fine transparent kebaya
(Javanese traditional women's blouses) fill a great number of
Irma's canvases.
They show Irma's keen observation and obsession with Javanese
fashion, and were painted in a kind of nostalgic mode that
reminds one of the paintings called Mooi Indie (Beautiful Indie).
Among these, Girl in the Mirror is particularly interesting.
Depicting a woman dressed in a transparent maroon kebaya and
traditional brown sarong standing before the mirror, Irma seems
to have wished to document this scene that may still be common in
some areas, but seems to be disappearing for the most part. Her
depictions of different types of Javanese girls in various poses
also shows the kebaya in its various versions.
Irma obviously remains partial to still-life paintings, which
to many artists, the genre is considered a minor form of artistic
expression and invention. As is widely known, the still-life type
of painting is derived from the Dutch word stilleven coined to
describe a new genre at the beginning of the 17th century, and
associated with the Northern European schools.
Consisting of fruit, flowers or daily household objects, these
used to only appear as a supporting role to the bigger picture of
human action, in many instances clumped as "women's work', itself
denoting the low status of women in society.
Fruit and flowers can be seen in Irma's acrylic paintings
Glass Bowl and Tropical Delight while household objects are seen
in Ceramic Blue. Her watercolor entitled Dry Leaf, radiates with
sparks of light, bright orange fruit on a brown leaf and set on a
yellowish brown floor.
Painting for Irma was a continuation of her drawing talents
when she was a kid. "I have loved drawing since childhood," said
Irma, who once was crowned Miss Indonesia.
As a kid she shocked her teacher with color combinations of
purple and green, colors that later became the fashion. After
high school, she entered the Bandung Institute of Technology's
art department and majored in painting, taught by such masters
like Sadali, AD Pirous, But Mochtar, Srihadi and Muchtar Apin. No
wonder that her earlier paintings showed this kind of
academically abstract mode.
Yet, as fascinated as she was by painting, she has also been
in love with fashion since she was child.
"At eight, I started copying from magazines, I had a scrapbook
with my own fashion sketches, pictures and beauty notes," said
Irma, who started making her own dresses as a teenager, then went
on to make designs for friends. On a few occasions, Batik Keris
asked her to help on their shows abroad.
Irma became a fashion journalist and editor when the women's
magazine Femina emerged over 30 years ago.
She studied in the U.S. and later came back and opened in 1995
a beauty consulting office called Rona & Gaya Image Consulting.
"I love and enjoy my profession as a Color & Image Consultant,
she says, it feels good to make other women fell good," she said.
Irma has actually never left painting. Throughout the years
she has participated in painting exhibitions, though not in the
main. She became serious about painting in 1998.
"At that time, I could not do anything else," she said.
But once she had started, painting became a passion, and the
upcoming exhibition is proof of her time well spent.
From here we look forward to the fruit of her true love of
painting.
Exhibition of Contemporary, Romantic Realism; Irma Hardisurya;
Opening Aug. 30 at 7:30 p.m.; Paulinart Art Space & Studio; Jl.
Denpasar Raya C IV/24; Kuningan, South Jakarta; tel. 522-1642