Painter Boy modernizes 'wayang beber'

Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Over 600 hundred years old, the wayang beber is similar to the comic strip of today. It contains a series of illustrations and just like other ancient works of art, the wayang beber has its own pakem, or rules of making and treating it. Painter Boy Tri Harjanto, however, rebels against it and turns it into a modern work of art.

The attractiveness of the original version of the wayang beber is very much dependent on the skill of the dalang (narrator or storyteller). The unfolding cloth or lontar leaves are a mere medium that helps spectators visualize the stories. Through Boy's hands, the wayang figures tell the story. He doesn't have to narrate.

"Usually the wayang beber is dull and stiff. The figures are originally drawn standing, sitting or battling. In my paintings, I make the wayang figures move like they are flying, swimming or other actions that were not available in the original versions," Boy claimed.

For a story from the wayang beber, there are usually six rolls of cloth, and each roll contains four episodes, but Boy condenses the lengthy rolls onto a 50-centimeter-by-70-centimeter canvas or a glass of the same size. For one painting, Boy creatively draws several scenes.

In his Guwarso-Guwarsi, which is named after the monkey knights, the brothers of the popular white monkey knight Hanoman, there are three scenes taken from the beginning when both knights bath on the river until they are destined by gods to become monkey knights.

In Pati Obong (Burned to Death), a 50 cm-by-70-cm acrylic on canvas, Boy depicts the episode when remorseful Arjuna, a knight from the Pandawa family, was willing to be burned to death out of respect for his murdered son Abimanyu. Arjuna did not die, but became even stronger and was able to avenge his son's murderer.

More rebellious work is seen in Drupadi, named after the wife of Puntadewa, the eldest in Pandawa brothers. In the scene, Boy drew the flying Drupadi with her veil being pulled away by the Kurawas brothers after the Pandawa brothers lost in a gambling spree.

But as a respectable woman, Drupadi was protected by the gods who kept stretching her veil as if there was no end to cover Drupadi from humiliation.

"This is what I can do to help preserve the wayang beber. At least people will ask about what the original painting version of the wayang beber is," Boy said.

Besides the rich philosophical values in wayang, what challenges Boy is the meticulous process of the painting. It takes about a month to make the sketches, as the lines are the most important element in the wayang beber painting after the coloring.

The original wayang beber uses a lot of blocked color and colorful details but Boy puts more stress on the sungging (gradation).

"In gradation, every single line counts. The building of a wayang figure consists of thousands of lines from the heavy lines to the lighter lines," he said.

With the technique, Boy has to initially go from a lighter color to a darker color to achieve a more dramatic effect. In his glass painting, Boy stresses the importance of a single line to give power to his wayang figures.

First introduced when he entered the Surakarta Institute of Arts, Boy devoutly studied and spent his time watching the wayang kulit (shadow puppet) shows, which usually run all night, in his hometown.

"I fell in love with the wayang beber once my lecturer introduced it to me. These are strong and magnifying Javanese philosophies. In wayang, one can find the values of peace, dignity, fertility and passion. It really amazes me to gradually understand the lessons of the lives behind the great wayang stories."

As a Javanese and resident of Surakarta, Central Java, the 28- year-old Boy, however, is reluctant to hold an exhibition in his hometown, which is renowned as the center of Javanese culture.

He claims he gets better appreciation in Jakarta then in Surakarta or other cities in the province. Possibly, he says, people still regard wayang as a handicraft instead of a work of art.

"As a handicraft, they may think it is easy to make and reproduce. Trust me, it is still hard to convince people that even wayang is also a highly valuable art. Not many people want to observe the artistic side of the wayang."

However, Boy is not disheartened by the fact that his paintings are not among the array of lithographs that sell like hotcakes because he has realized that he lives for his artistic call and not for the sake of making a living from it.

"I have to work to be able to paint and I will continue that way," said the down-to-earth Javanese, who also works as a freelance photographer and journalist at a local daily.

Fortunately, Boy is also not some sort of ambitious fortune- seeker. He even strongly turns down the idea to migrate to Jakarta to try his luck, saying, "I couldn't live in Jakarta. There are too many cars and too many people. I wouldn't be able to stand it.

"Moreover, there are few wayang shows there. It would kill me if I couldn't paint."