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.