Painter Rastika returns with fresh touch

Painter Rastika returns with fresh touch

Yusuf Susilo Hartono, Contributor, Jakarta

After being absent for some time from a solo exhibition in
Jakarta, Rastika, 60-year-old glass painter from Gegesik Kulon, a
village in Cirebon, West Java, is back with his latest works.

Though some of his 40 displayed glass paintings still show a
repetition of old themes, like calligraphy in Syahadat (the
confession of faith, there is no God but Allah and Prophet
Muhammad is God's Messenger) in Semar or Paksi Naga Liman (a
creature unique to Cirebon), fresh themes are also found in his
works, even with a touch of humorous nuance -- like the one where
Petruk, a royal servant in traditional shadow puppet shows, sits
leisurely with his two hands holding liquor bottles while a
pretty woman sits on his lap.

Rastika started his creative process as a glass painter in the
1950s. After such a long time, the former farmer has now reached
new heights of wisdom, as shown in the way he uses humor as
catharsis, not a form of escapism.

Although his formal education was confined only to elementary
school, Rastika is knowledgeable about the philosophy of life (as
reflected in shadow puppet stories). His works clearly show how
his knowledge and experience as a farmer have gained him more
prominence.

Nowadays, young painters in Cirebon generally come from a
higher educational background than has Rastika but know little of
philosophy like that in shadow puppet stories.

If it is true that Rastika's humor is a kind of catharsis, how
does the quality of visual language in the drunken Petruk
painting compare with his usual themes, which are usually derived
from shadow puppet stories?

According to glass painting observer Eddy Hadi Waluyo, Rastika
is capable of depicting flexible and elegant shapes with rich and
beautiful detailing of great complexity. This, he said, must be
the outcome of his continuous exploration of the themes from the
shadow puppet stories.

Rastika was not alone in creating the exhibited works.
Although these works bear his signature, Kusdono, 20, his fourth
child and a junior high school dropout, played an important role
in creating these works.

Kusdono, who is confined to a wheelchair, has, in the past
five years, gone through his father's rigorous training in glass
painting in a hope that someday, he might take Rastika's place
when his father can no longer work.

In the creating process, Kusdono is assigned to color the
patterns that his father made. These patterns are in black
flexible lines with objects neatly placed in a neat composition.
In coloring these patterns, Kusdono has to follow his father's
guidelines.

The base, for example, is in duck eggshell blue to create a
softer impression; the motifs of stony ground and clouds are
layered in a monochromatic degradation of blue, green, red and,
brown. Nowadays, his fanatic collectors find his paintings softer
in color than those created five to 10 years ago when most of
them were in bright colors.

An interesting thing at this ongoing exhibition is that for
the first time, Rastika displays reproductions of Barikan from
Gegesik, a series of 16 frames. He has reproduced the paintings
by Sitisiwan (1865 to 1948), using Lontar offset reproduction.
Lontar itself has reproduced these paintings from the original
works, collected by TL Cooper. This painting features Cirebon
folklore like Lukas Baurna, putra Jaka Larang (Lukas Baurna, the
son of Jaka Larang) and Raja Jin Tanjung Karobak dengan Rara
Bulan, putri Laut Selatan (Genie King and Rara Bulan, the South
Sea Princess). Such paintings were displayed in a house at a time
that there was a wedding party or circumcision ceremony.

The reproduction idea came from Iwan Ramelan of PT Fortune,
the exhibition's sponsor. Many have supported this as Sitisiwan
died over 50 years ago and Rastika has reproduced the paintings
in his own media and style so he cannot be accused of plagiarism.

Regardless of whether or not this reproduction violates
copyright, Rastika's exhibition this time is quite attractive. In
the early years of the propagation of Islam, glass painting works
were used as a means of carrying the message, but now Rastika
uses it as a medium of humor. This is especially interesting to
note, given that Indonesians now find it hard to laugh as the
price of daily necessities has risen.

The exhibition will run through to Jan. 19, 2003 at Candrika
Gallery, Pondok Indah Plaza I, South Jakarta (Tel: 75900763-762).