Sukamto travels deep into Javanese world
Sukamto travels deep into Javanese world
Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
If one comes across a figurative-decorative painting portraying
Javanese lifestyles with traditional lurik, or striped motif
enclosing the painting, then the art work must belong to
Yogyakarta artist Sukamto Dwi Susanto.
Better known as Kamto, the artist makes this particular motif
of Javanese traditional cloth as a specific theme for his mostly
pastel-on-paper or pastel-on-cardboard paintings.
In practice, Kamto did not only use the motif surrounding his
paintings, that are dominated by sharp and contrasting colors,
but they are also dominant in most of his paintings as shown in
his ongoing solo exhibition where he displays 22 pastel-on-paper
pieces.
"Lurik concerns me a lot. Less and less people are wearing it
presently, even though it is a rich Javanese tradition," said
Kamto. He said he deliberately picked the motif in his work in a
bid to maintain and promote the traditional motif.
Born on Aug. 27, 1952, in a small village of Tangkilan, Godean
district, Sleman regency, some five kilometers north west of
Yogyakarta, Kamto's whole life is inseparable from the Javanese
world. In fact, Javanese is probably the only world the father of
two teenagers understands very well, as he never
really leaves his village.
He did spend sometime at Pasar Seni Ancol in North Jakarta in
the 1970s after finishing his studies at Yogyakarta Fine Arts
High School (SMSR) and while finishing his study at the Academy
of Indonesian Fine Art (ASRI) in Yogyakarta. Yet, the Javanese
way of life never leaves this simple-looking painter.
This accounts for the subjects of his paintings and the
stories behind them never stray from the Javanese world,
especially those of Yogyakartans.
Mitoni, for example, tells about a traditional ceremony held
for a seven-month-old pregnant Javanese woman, while Gunungan,
similarly, describes a traditional ceremony held by a Javanese
kingdom like Yogyakarta Palace where gunungan, mountain-shaped
rice decorated with various vegetables and fruit, is presented.
The touch of the traditional puppet show wayang of the
Mahabharata epic story can also be spotted in the artist's works
throughout, by the presence of characters like Bathari (goddess)
Durga, King of Astina Kingdom, Kumbayana and the punakawan, the
palace's jokers.
"I like adopting wayang characters into my paintings because
they do not just symbolize particular characteristics in the
Javanese, but also describe a particular condition in the
community," Kamto said.
Batari Durga, for instance, symbolizes evil, while Semar of
the punakawan symbolizes wisdom.
"Frankly speaking, I would never dare to paint any object that
I myself don't understand well. This is the only world I master,
the kind of paintings that best suit me. That's why I maintain
this and never try anything else," he said.
Once, he was ordered to make a painting describing a Javanese
Christmas celebration. But, he was not a Christian, meaning that
he understood nothing about the subject he was to undertake.
"I did make one, but I never felt sreg (satisfied) with the
painting, even now. I feel something is missing there," he said
on his pastel-on-cardboard painting titled Javanese Christmas.