Made Sukadana, fresh talent in Indonesian fine arts

Made Sukadana, fresh talent in Indonesian fine arts

By Ipong Purnama Sidhi

JAKARTA (JP): Large format canvasses filled with spontaneous
brush strokes and energetic ensembles of lines currently occupy
the National Museum's exhibition room in Central Jakarta.

I Made Sukadana, a promising young painter, is exhibiting
more than 20 works in a solo exhibition entitled Titi Ugal Agil
that has enthralled local art experts and art lovers alike,
ensuring a critical and commercial success.

This phenomenon is interesting amid the current climate in the
fine art world, marked by uncontrolled prices and an elaborate
trade network. Art collectors are aggressively chasing
"newcomers" and young talents whose works are highly artistic and
commercially viable. Made is one of their targets. These
collectors understand perfectly the present map of the Indonesian
art market.

Made's works, according to many collectors, are 'digestible'
and easily understood by the market, yet Made's skills and
talents are unquestionable.

Made's achievements lie in his mastery of technique and his
talented skill in organizing a myriad of fine art elements into
one superb composition. He has an impressively capable of
modifying and improvising lines and colors in each of his works.

He always carefully calculates all of the materials used in
his compositions, balancing subjects and background, as well as
shapes and colors.

Made is clever in the well-ordered and appropriate arrangement
of his subjects. His brush strokes are thick and heavy,
especially when he uses color and creates light lines in contour
objects.

On his canvasses, Made frequently creates spontaneous splashes
of oil, adopting the art of batik-making techniques. Combined
with oil-trickle, splash, and scrape, the batik painting
technique has enriched Made's art works.

In the process of artistic creations, Made mostly relies on
his natural instinct to express his freedom of mind. He possesses
strong intuition mixed with emotion and sometimes wild
imagination, reflected in his dynamic language of pictures and
symbols.

Almost all of his works depict idiosyncratic and frightening
scenes, often inspired by Hindu Bali's philosophy and mythology.
The Balinese metaphors, symbols and drawings are manifested in
Barong (mythical dragon-like creature) shapes.

Made also adopts themes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata
epics, such as Arjuna Wiwaha, Ramayana, Srikandi Tanding, Karna
Tanding and many others.

Made is very familiar with these themes and eloquently
expresses them in many of his artworks. In works titled Jatayu
Rahwana, or Kebenaran dalam Bara Api (The Truth in Blaze), Made
portrays a scene in which Sinta, Rama's wife in the Ramayana, is
burned. In both works, Made employs vigorous scraping techniques,
creating incredibly powerful pictures.

In Karno Tanding, The Fight of Karno, he concentrates on
detail, a reminder of traditional Balinese paintings which are
usually occupied with numerous figures and backgrounds. The way
he represents the detail tends to be so decorative.

He is fond of dark and heavy colors, creating magical and
mysterious atmospheres as manifestations of the Balinese
cosmological concepts -- microcosm and macrocosm.

One of his most interesting works is Titi Ugal Agil, which was
selected as the title of his current exhibition. Here, Made is
inspired by the Kamasan painting style, on the ceiling of
Kertagosa ( Hall of Justice) in Klungkung Royal Palace, East
Bali.

The painting symbolically illustrates the fate of humankind,
which is determined only by a narrow bridge standing on the edge
razors.

The painting has received wide criticism and is the artist's
most contemplative work. Through this painting, Made is trying to
reexplore Balinese people's beliefs concerning myths and
religion. The people believe that a bridge can take a person to a
dignified life, providing that he or she walks across it
cautiously and is able to overcome all distractions.

Another of Made's works, Karno Tanding, measures an
astonishing 2 meters x 5 meters.

For this young artist, it is important not to excessively
exploit the same colors, techniques and styles, in order to avoid
creating monotonous works. With his talent and skill, it is
expected that he will be able to create even greater and more
mature works in the future.

The current exhibition run through until April 25.

The writer is a curator at Graha Bentara Budaya.