Paintings about Bali's mystical lifestyle on display
Paintings about Bali's mystical lifestyle on display
Canadian artist Marsha Stonehouse first visited Bali in 1984.
Inspired, she returned in 1990 and produced a series of paintings
that gives a unique insight into the magical island's mysterious
and sometimes sinister culture. Roberts Pearson reports.
JAKARTA (JP): There's nothing like too many tourists to
exorcise the magic from a culture. And Indonesia's resort island
of Bali, now almost as famous for its abundance of holiday-makers
as for its culture, would seem a prime candidate for suffocation.
But if a new exhibition by Canadian artist Marsha Stonehouse
is anything to go by, Bali's ancient charm is alive and well. Her
The Magical Island series features almost two dozen watercolors
and oils, capturing the essence of Bali's mystical Hindu
lifestyle.
Sponsored by new insurance joint venture Modern Sun Life and
organized by the Focus on Canada Committee, the exhibition is on
display at the Regent Hotel until tomorrow.
"Bali is like a living theater. Fantasy and reality are
interwoven so that the people literally live out their
mythology," said Stonehouse.
Born in Canada, Stonehouse obtained a degree in Fine Art from
the University of Western Ontario in 1972. She studied painting,
drawing, lithography and photography at the Three Schools of Fine
Art in Ontario in 1975-77 before completing a Winter Studio
Program, at the Banff School of fine Art in Alberta in 1979. In
1993, she attended a summer painting program at the Slade School
of Art in London.
Unlike other artists of her generation, she has always been
more interested in natural symbolism and mythology than in the
trends sweeping mainstream art. While others were exploring Post-
Abstract Expressionism, with its bleak view of tormented beings
in a hostile modern world, Stonehouse was abroad studying the art
of other cultures.
"My particular interest is in mythology, trying to understand
how foreign cultures deal with the other dimensions. In North
America you don't often see that -- there aren't many artists
interested in those areas."
In 1984 she became perhaps the first Canadian artist to paint
a series based on Australian Aboriginal art. Starting in Darwin,
she and a companion traveled south through the Outback, part of
it with an aboriginal man called Wianjee.
She set up shop in Sydney for several months before completing
the work in Canada. The result was her Dreamtime series,
exhibited in Canada in 1986.
"I wanted to find out how the Aboriginals perceived the
world," she said. "How they imbue geography with mysticism and
animism."
The series received a mixed response at the time. "People who
had been to Australia enjoyed it. But others found it hard to
relate to. The colors were so different -- there were a lot of
earth tones, brilliant blues. It also contained Aboriginal
imagery picked up along the away, such as Lightning Man and
serpents."
The paintings have enjoyed a lasting appeal, however. "It's
over 10 years now but the paintings are still selling. We're
starting to see more reproductions of Aboriginal art in Toronto
which you would have never seen a while ago."
As part of the Australian trip, Stonehouse visited Bali for
the first time, heading straight to the village of Ubud. "At that
time, there were not as many tourists. Being one of the few
foreigners there, it felt like I was being washed over by the
entire spectacle. I wasn't aware of my own presence or that of
other tourists."
The 1984 trip, though only two weeks long, was enough to
stimulate her interest. In 1990-91 she returned for six months to
gather ides for another exhibition. The trip led to the paintings
now on display in Jakarta, The Magical Island series.
Completed in Canada in 1992 and first exhibited at the
Indonesian consulate in Toronto, the series originally consisted
of 33 paintings done in a mixture of watercolors and oils. At
least 12 have been added since.
The pieces combine traditional motifs and details from the
natural world to create a dazzling array of color and form. Apart
from the use of similar symbols, there is no resemblance to
traditional Balinese art. The style is free and uncluttered. In
some, temples shimmer on aqua backgrounds or are tucked away
below angry violet skies. Others feature no more than waving palm
fronds or beautifully rendered water lilies.
The use of color also varies. In oil-on-canvas pieces such as
New Moon Festival, vivid reds compete with sky blues. Watercolor
pieces such as First Offering, on the other hand, evoke an early
morning freshness with a blend of gentle yellows and pinks.
Borders are embellished with Bali's checkered Yin and Yang
pattern, details of temple decorations and other motifs lending
the works a tapestry-like flavor. Some pieces have no borders at
all.
On the whole, the result is unique but unmistakably Bali. Its
aim is not only top capture the island's bright side, Stonehouse
said, but also to reflect Bali's undertone of dark legend and
real-life black magic.
"Bali is like a theater -- there is light and color but it
also has a sinister side. The demons are never far away," she
said. "The dark elements are evident in the temple offerings. Pig
fat made into little flowers, for instance."
Interestingly, she funded both the Australian and Bali series
though advanced purchases by private patrons. A small group of
friends and investors paid upfront for the right to have first
choice of works when the series was completed.
Stonehouse has already begun another, more abstract series
exploring the inner being. But the appeal of Bali lives on. She
still occasionally adds to The Magical Island series and has
returned to the island several times as a guide for groups of
artists interested in studying local technique.
While in Toronto, she passes on her interest in the natural
world by teaching inner city children to pain forest murals. One
of these was sponsored by the Forest Industry Association and
displayed at the Toronto Science Center and International Airport
for two years.
She lives in inner Toronto with husband her Peter, her two
step-children and two cats. Despite the house's urban location,
nature is never far away. An 800-acre park glistening with ice
and frost in winter,is just meters away, on the other side of the
road.