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.