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