Sulistyo's search for self in a world of chaos

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta

Eddy Sulistyo's intriguing works in the CP Open Biennale call for closer scrutiny. Executed in pencil, ink and oil on canvas, he reveals an overwhelming confusion in a world where standard norms and values increasingly make way for new patterns of life.

When the feminine is more prominent in a man, or the masculine dominates in a woman, it is confusing for the person in question. Sulistyo says his painting Confession (200 x 150 cm) describes the process of a person's search for self.

In Sulistyo's human figure, the level of uncertainty is tangible. A foot in an upside-down position is in the place of the head, while the head is positioned as the feet. If one initially assumes this is a female figure, given the breasts and the right hand, then the strong, masculine body, the legs, a dagger cramped in the left male fist as well as the male genitals denote otherwise.

One thigh is covered with the beautiful features of female faces, while the other thigh shows fierce male visages.

This ambivalent figure is painted against a background of white clouds, fish and water lilies, from which the contours of a figure emerge. Could it be that the kneeling figure, the serene face and the hands folded denote the end of the search, a stage when the person has ultimately decided on his identity?

Confession is not only about the issue of gender identity. In fact, the artist admits to a lot of questions, including some teachings of religion, the meaning of balance in life, what is good and evil, right and wrong, black and white.

Sulistyo, a 26-year-old student at the Yogyakarta Institute of the Arts, has been surrounded by art since he was a little boy as his father made batik paintings popular with tourists.

Self-taught, his artistic skills improved as he helped his father, including in meeting such unusual requests as recreating a Dali work.

He did not know to paint with oils then, or on canvas, before entering arts school. Once a friend of his father's brought him some oil and poster paint, which began running because he used paper, he remembered.

A participant of several joint exhibitions, he has had just one solo exhibition. Being selected from over 600 applications for the CP Open Biennale is an experience he will not easily forget.

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