Sukarso sculpts head turners from dry, barren coconuts

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.