Two painters explore body and soul

Two painters explore body and soul

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta

The compelling works of two painters currently displayed at
Galeri 678 reveal alternative sources of inspiration and other
ways of exploration.

While Diah Yulianti's paintings emphasize a personalized
belief in the world of spirits of her native Kalimantan,
Katirin's works evoke the emotional by obscuring his otherwise
realistic figures in atmospheric blurs.

Diah Yulianti (born 1973) comes from Rantau, South Kalimantan
where her Javanese father settled after he married her Kalimantan
mother. With a strong belief in a spiritual aura connecting the
world above with the world below, Diah has struck art critics and
art lovers alike with her unusual imagery brought onto canvas or
bark using colors in the tradition of the local people. The
multi-colored dots covering the ghostlike figures floating in
space, added to the sombre mystique of a gripping atmosphere.

During the year 2000, the dots which in one way or another
show some similarity with the dots of Australian aboriginal art,
gradually gave way. Yet she continued to feel more at home in the
world of spirits, as evident in her work Pintu Merah (Red Door;
72 x 72 cm). I like to pass that door around midnight, she said
at the time, denoting her need for the energy flowing from the
world of spirits, including her beloved father -- an artist
himself in his mortal life.

As her connection with the spirit world intensifies, it seems
the line between spirits and the spiritual is blurring into the
transcendental and revealed in a truthful conscience with which
she is in constant dialog.

My art is an act of meditation, she asserts. Life's problems
are confronted with life's basic values resulting in an
indomitable energy flowing through her body and soul and visible
in her compelling canvases in which vibrance is expressed with
unusual hues of red, gold and bronze.

A deepening of the spiritual seems to have given her firm
ground to stand on. This is particularly evident in Kita Bukanlah
Apa-Apa, Adalah Hanya Kita (We're Nothing, Only Us; 140 x 120
cm), in which a white colored nude takes center stage amidst
black, vibrant red and a mix of brown-white- and vaguely red
abstractions of figures. Dismissing any allegiance to alluring or
sophisticated sex, the nude rather reflects the need for people
to strip themselves of the attributes behind the real, often
hidden self.

What is important, is to maintain a balance at all times, the
perfect equilibrium between what we were meant to be and what we
make out of it, says Diah relating to her painting Manajemen
Kalbu.(Soul Management; 140 x 120 cm). Diah's spiritual travels
are also revealed in Menuju Padang Mahsyar (Heading to Mahsyar
Field; 120 x 110 cm ) depicting her pursuit toward the place of
all beginnings and endings. Abstracted figures in yellow-gold,
red, black and rust colors, vaguely reminiscent of a Russian
icon, fill the space through which tiny white-colored abstracted
figures float in an upward direction.

As Diah may continue to explore the world of spirits, and the
spiritual takes hold of her inner being, she is entering
alternative avenues of artistic expression, denoting change and
moving on.

If a change of style and colors is a sign at all, then Mencari
Jati Diri (In Search of Self Identity) with its bold red and gold
color combination may be an important milestone in her young
career. The painting Catatan Akhir Tahun (Yearend Note; 140x120
cm) in which raging brush strokes and blatant colors comment on
the Sept. 11 attack, reveals even stronger signals of change.

Will Diah Yulianti continue pursuing excellence in artistic
creativity through spiritualizing her body and soul? Given her
astounding drive -- five large paintings are dated 2002 -- no
less than great expectations are in place.

Katirin (born 1968) has 13 works in oil matching the works by
Diah in terms of size, and pursuit. Yet they seem less
personalized and more weighted towards the sense of dark anxiety.

Grand and impressive, Katirin's paintings tremble with an
inconsolable grief and desolation. His colors are dark and
somber, his gestures as if begging for mercy, like in Menggapai
(Reaching; 145 x180 cm) while his movements denote rushing and
being on-the-run, like in Pencarian (Searching; 145 x 180 cm).

One can't avoid the sense of terror, such as many may still
remember from the recent past, and others are experiencing in
current situations like the evicted in Urban (5 x 225 cm).
Katirin's canvases bring along the notion of exploring the figure
in abstractions. Particularly meaningful in this sense is the
figure in Ibu dan Anak (Mother and Child; 90 x 170 cm),
discernible only by a single shining contour, as well as the
semi-abstract figures in Desire (120x120), denoting a change of
touch and atmosphere, while still revealing tension and
repulsion.

Katirin started painting figures with live models, but soon
changed to painting without a model, thus giving more leeway for
his imagery and emotions to shape his images. His works have met
with great interest from gallery directors and art critics.

Inbox:
Observasi terhadap diri dan jiwa (Observations of the self and
the soul) exhibition runs until Feb. 13 at Galeri 678, Jl. Kemang
Raya 32, Ph. 717 92164/7196009