Sukarso sculpts head turners from dry, barren coconuts

By Agus Maryono and Ngudi Utomo

PURWOKERTO, Central Java (JP): Plant diseases and other scourges can rob coconuts of juice and their flesh, the solid white lining of the inner shell.

Dry, barren coconuts like these, simply a bundle of thick fibers covering the small shell, are usually used as firewood or tossed away. They cannot be used to grow a new plant.

But they are a living for Sukarso, 50, from Purwokerto, Central Java. Using his talent, he turns them into highly artistic coconut shell sculptures of the human head. It is a talent he shares only with his teenage son, which increases the sale value of their creation.

Most of his sculptures take the form of heads with manes of hair. The thick fibers of the coconut, usually used to make a fire, are styled into hair. But because they appear like decapitated heads, children usually turn on their heels at the sight of them displayed outside Sukarso's home.

Many out-of-town art enthusiasts are more welcoming.

"I have received many orders, but most come from outside Purwokerto. Only a few of the locals would like to buy my sculptures," Sukarso told The Jakarta Post at his house-cum- workshop. He works together with his son, Wawan Darmawan, 18.

He also receives a few orders from Jakarta.

"Some of the locals here also take my sculptures to Jakarta and sell them there." They usually purchase from 20 to 30, and sell them over a month's period in Jakarta.

Sukarso sells a sculpture for Rp 15,000, but he does not know how much each costs in Jakarta.

He came upon his talent by chance while observing his father.

"When I was 10, I happened to see my father throw away some juiceless, fleshless coconuts. He later told me that the fibers of these coconuts were difficult to remove from the shells. It struck me then that I could turn this kind of coconut into a sculpture. I tried to make one and I was successful.

"I believe God has shown me the right way to earn a living," he said. He earns enough to feed his wife and 10 children.

Wawan, his eldest child, is only a junior high school graduate but he said he had some savings. "My sculptures are comparable to my father's."

To make the sculpture, Sukarso uses a cutter and a small knife, locally called pemes. The knife carves out the eyes, ears and other human features. A cutter is used to refine the parts later.

Sukarso makes heads either with the ears visible or covered by hair.

"When I make a sculpture of a head with the ears covered by the hair, I will first cut the nose part and then the mouth part, the eyes and finally the hair."

When he makes a sculpture of a human head with visible ears, he first creates the part of the face seen from one side (the cheek) and then the ears, nose, mouth, eyes and finally the hair.

"As ears generally look more prominent than the other parts of the face, these are usually worked on first of all."

After the features have been complete, he rubs it with sandpaper and applies a coat of varnish. The sandpaper must be wet before it is used.

"I usually varnish the sculpture ten times to make sure that it is really satisfactory."

It takes him an average of two days to make a sculpture. "Thank God Wawan now helps me. With his help I can now produce 30 sculptures a month," he said, adding that he could sell that quantity in a month.

His sculptures are also available at the Baturaden tourist site, about 15 km off his house "but I don't know how much they sell for there".

Sales have dipped in the crisis.

"Now I can sell only about 20 sculptures a month," he admitted. Despite this decline in sales, he said that he maintained his productivity level. "Who knows someone will come some day to buy all these sculptures."

Sukarso said villagers supply him with the coconuts. "Many villagers come to my place to sell barren coconuts to me." He pays Rp 1,000 for each.

"Sometimes I have to find these coconuts in the surrounding villages if I happen to receive a lot of orders while my supplies of coconuts are low."

Not all coconut plants produce barren fruit. "If a coconut tree has this kind of coconut, there may be only one such coconut. But once I got 12 of the coconuts from a tree," he said.

"Thank God that although these juiceless and fleshless coconuts are difficult to find, my stock has never run out. God is indeed most fair," he said.