SymBALIsm restores the beauty of painting

SymBALIsm restores the beauty of painting

Vivid N. Savitri, Contributor, Jakarta

What is the first thing that pops up in your mind if you are
invited to a painting exhibition? Boring perhaps? No need to feel
guilty about it; the truth for many people may not be that far
off.

For us mere mortals, painting can simply be out of our realm.
And even though I visit almost every painting exhibition,
whenever I have time, I still find it hard to gauge the message
beyond the unseen.

However, Paul Nagano's playful yet profound approach to nature
and landscape is expressed vividly in every stroke of his
watercolor paintings. Heavily influenced by the Japanese Nanga
style that was popular between 1880 and 1890, and post
impressionism a la Seurat and Degas, Nagano's painting has a
deeper and more poetic essence than mere symbolism. One doesn't
have to be Baudelaire to be able to feel the gloomy mood of
Source of Moonlight or enjoy the festive air of Procession or
Welcoming Dance.

Symbolism has been praised by critics for its complex themes
and bemoaned by common viewers for its unfathomable ideas. But
quoting Stephen Mallarmi, "(Symbolism) is a musical poem and
needs no libretto." One is free to interpret a painting based on
one's own perception, experience, inner fears or dreams.

"The meaning of my painting seems irrelevant, because it may
change from viewer to viewer, from time to time. Which is the way
I like it to be," Nagano states.

Nagano's first work in SymBALIsm, Where are We Going? held me
captive. Especially after he showed me his sketch book and told
the story of how a sketch developed into a totally different
painting in the final artwork.

It is not only the way Nagano strokes the brush and colors the
images that distinguishes this particular painting from his
previous works, but it looks as if he has developed a new style
of his own.

"I think it was because when the sketch was done and refused
to materialize itself on a bigger canvas, I simply left it. But
when I picked it up again, then changes began to occur, and the
concept of the objective, naturalistic landscape that I've been
doing for many years metamorphosed into an internal, subjective
play of ideas."

Nagano shyly admits that he enjoyed watching Are You Being
Served?, a hilarious British TV comedy of the early 1970s. In
1997, he was 60 when Where are we going? was painted.

"Somehow, I was no longer afraid to step out of my usual
comfort zone. I felt free, like a child who just wanted to
explore and explore, and simply curious to see where each stroke
would take me." At this point, he bizarrely reminded me of Mr.
Humphries, one of the characters in Are You Being Served?, whose
famous phrase is "I'm Free!"

When asked why he chose landscape as his primary subject,
especially in his early works on Hawaii, Nagano simply replied,
"Why not landscape? I guess maybe because I grew up on an island
surrounded by such remarkable landscape, abundant beaches and
beautiful mountains, which then became my immediate source of
inspiration. And I just wanted to put them on canvas."

But why use watercolor? Why not oil? Or acrylic?

"Actually, I was trained as a painter in oils. But then I
found that watercolors were the simplest medium, direct and free:
it's just pigment, binder and water. What could be simpler?" he
says.

The Split Gate is a perfect example of how such a simple
medium can translate the ideas of good and evil magnificently.
Though there's nothing simple about Nagano's drawing technique.
It requires not only skill but a wild imagination. Here, the
banyan tree has become a gigantic split gate. Trunk, branches and
roots are all manifestations of life in Bali: Mothers, cocks,
snakes and herons. The elephant is not found in Bali but somehow
manages to sneak its way in, entwined among the branches.

But, among all these vibrant and colorful paintings, my
attention was always drawn by one that was dark and menacing. So
alone but yet tranquil. It was Sources of Moonlight.

Perhaps it is the battle between good and evil within and
around us that caught my imagination. We humans easily fall
victim to the evil side. So there I was, stood before the
painting, admiring it and simultaneously indulging my dark side
in this moment of freedom.

Seeing the way the pale moonlight washes over the paddy
fields, the way it plays against its darkness, immediately I
think of Ubud. Because you won't find hues like these anywhere
else.

"Indeed it was painted in Ubud. At a time when electricity,
radio or television had not been heard of. You can only imagine
how simple life was back then. And that's when I simply fell in
love with Bali," recalls Nagano dreamily.

Another painting of his that captured my attention was Secrets
of Nature, which in short represents the circle of life. A woman
bearing temple offerings is transformed, again, into a sacred
banyan tree. A cremation takes place in the distance, while
celestial beams of light fall past a temple illuminating the
falling petals of giant lotus blossoms. Then the hand, emerging
transparently from the river offers a benediction as it holds a
flower between two fingers. The Balinese checkered cloth
symbolizes the balance of good and evil.

In almost every one of Nagano's Balinese paintings, we find
the hand of Buddha. Holding lotus petals, or in gestures that
symbolize compassion, intellectuality or benediction, it is
always there.

"I found Balinese tradition was also influenced by Buddhism,
and putting it [the hand] there enriches the symbolism," Nagano
says," I guess it must be Bali itself that enables me to nurture
my creativity and inspiration. I absorb Bali and, in return, it
absorbs me."

What he said reminds me of an old Taoist saying by Deng Ming
Dao: "Imagination is pale and fragile, Dreams grip with a false
reality. Imagination can build bridges, Dreams can deceive."

Revisiting the exhibition the following day, I was struck by
the way the meanings of the painting seemed to have changed. My
imagination captivated again, I was absorbed into Nagano's dream-
like world. Experiencing Nagano's symbolist work has restored my
faith in the beauty of painting.

SymBALIsm by Paul Nagano
at Kupu-Kupu Fine Art Gallery;
Plaza Kebon Sirih, Podium II, Suite P2 #05B;
Jl. Kebon Sirih No. 17-19;
Telp. 39836621;
Aug. 8 through Aug. 31.