THE IMPACT OF CULTURAL ENCOUNTERS ON THE ART OF MELLA JAARSMA

By Carla Bianpoen

JAKARTA (JP): While many historians continue to debate the Dutch-Indonesian policies of the past, and diplomats keep busy strengthening trade between the two countries, not many people remember the cultural encounters that continue to take place.

The impact of this exchange is evident in the works of Mella Jaarsma, a native of the Netherlands who has lived in Indonesia since 1984. Her solo exhibition at the Dutch Cultural Center, Erasmus Huis, runs from April 8 through April 22.

Twenty paintings and 27 monoprints testify to the impact Indonesian culture has made on Jaarsma.

Her works are distinctive due to her professional skill, including the use of advanced technologies, blended with the ability to give traditional values contemporary significance, and a refined sensing of what lies behind material objects.

"The process of Jaarsma's creative work is unique because it is the output of processed personal experience and perceptions," said Director General of Culture Edy Sedyawati at the exhibit's opening on April 7.

Jaarsma's early exploration of the local culture began with sketching the squatting forms on the streets and the shadows that seemed to dominate the island of Java. Shadows in the wayang, in a half lit warung, but also in daylight. Jaarsma has used both to bring her works closer to the culture in which she has decided to spend her life.

As she became acquainted with people squatting, which revealed the Indonesian closeness to the earth, Jaarsma started painting in the squat position. She found that it added to the quality of her work.

Shadows

Until this moment, she is obsessed by shadows. Shadows hover over almost all of her work. At times it may be a silhouette or a shade, at other times a reflection of traditional values.

"When I first came to Indonesia, I was overwhelmed by the effect of sunlight," says Jaarsma, adding that the sun in the northern countries has a different effect on colors. "Shadows are everywhere, you even walk in your own shadow," she once said.

The impact of the tropical shadow on Mella Jaarsma is felt in the way she relates it to almost all aspects of life without differentiating between the material and the immaterial. Shadows stand between light and dark, symbolic of life and death. For Jaarsma, life is never-ending, because death indicates new life. And so the life cycle with life and death as the essential elements in human life, is a recurrent theme in the artist's work. Her inspiration draws from such traditional ceremonies as the burial cults in Toraja in South Sulawesi and cremation ceremonies in Bali.

Shadows and the elements of human life continue to fascinate this artist, whom the highly respected local painter, Nunung W.S., says has become Indonesian.

In her more recent work, Jaarsma remains focused on life. But contrary to her earlier works, which took the human scale as a center, she now relates the cycle to nature. "Resin," says Jaarsma comparing the life of a tree to that of a human being, "circulates as does blood."

Her nature series was done in Munduk, an idyllic village in the mountains of northern Bali. Here a sculpture of outstanding value has been erected to be used as a place where the villagers can cremate their dead. In the Pralina Fire Altar as it is called, a lying human shape made of stone is the base of the actual cremation place, a shadow, so to speak, of the upright human shape made of wire as the gate to the altar. The Balinese concepts of Utpeti (Birth), Setiti (Life) and Pralina (Death) are all incorporated.

Etching

Less esoteric and more colorful are her monoprints. Here her creative talents find a new outlet. Etching is her latest fascination. "I love to do etching," says Jaarsma, while explaining that the etching process itself opens new directions for the work of art.

Vibrations at her fingertips lead to new sensations and new dimensions. On the same plate, Jaarsma adds paint with either brush or fingers, and completes the work with other media. "I have to act fast, there is no chance for thinking things over, I just let myself be guided by the vibration, inspiration and innovation of the moment."

Some people find that knowing the conceptual background helps them appreciate Jaarsma's paintings. But others find themselves drawn in, inexplicably and without prior knowledge of the direction of her work.

The number of exhibitions listed in her catalog reveals that Jaarsma is an active artist. She has participated in Dutch, Indonesian and international exhibitions since 1987. Her works are on the walls of municipal offices, banks and embassies, as well as in private houses in the Netherlands, Indonesia, Europe, the USA, Canada and Singapore.

Born in Emmeloord in the Netherlands, Mella studied at the Minerva Art Academy in Groningen and at the Art Institutes in Jakarta and Yogyakarta. She is married to Indonesian painter Ninditiyo Adipurnomo with whom she supports the development of young Indonesian contemporary artists through displays in their Cemeti Gallery in Yogyakarta, and through promoting a Dutch- Indonesian artists exchange.