Wahyoe Wijaya's Third Dimension: Physical and Spiritual

Wahyoe Wijaya's Third Dimension: Physical and Spiritual

By Amir Sidharta

JAKARTA (JP): The inclusion of artifacts from Javanese folk
art, such as the kuda lumping and the wayang kulit, in Wahyoe
Wijaya's canvases may not be any great innovation. Marcel Duchamp
has included safety pins, nuts and bolts in his work. In his
"combine paintings", Robert Rauschenberg also merged objects into
his canvas. In addition, Indonesian artists, such as Suatmadji
and Nyoman Erawan working in the late 1980s, have also used
three-dimensional objects combined with the flat canvas as their
medium of expression.

Whether one likes or dislikes Wahyoe's formal artistic style
is a matter of personal taste. Nonetheless, Wahyoe, who has
incorporated three dimensionality in his paintings since the
1970s, intends to present a sincere message of concern over the
inevitable social, cultural and environmental changes that are
currently occurring in Indonesia through this "Third Dimension".

Social commentary

The "third dimension" in Wahyoe Wijaya's work manifests itself
not only in the three-dimensional objects that are included in
the artwork, but also in the artist's philosophical triad
consisting of concentration, contemplation, and meditation. As a
result, his concerns over issues of social change are often
expressed in his paintings.

Objects associated with what the artist considers to be folk
imagery are predominant in his work. Both Sang Hyang Jaran (The
Great Holy Horse) and Jarane Jaran, (Horse among Horses) each
incorporate a kuda lumping -- a flat representation of a horse
made out of woven strips of bamboo fastened onto a bamboo frame
-- which he bought in Muntilan, Central Java. Today, the
opportunities for the expression of folk arts such as the kuda
lumping are diminishing.

Wahyoe also expressed his concern over holy dances, once
spiritual in nature, which have been adapted to be presented for
the tourist audience, stripping it from its sacred values. The
use of the folk imagery in his works is meant to serve as a
reminder of the present state of Indonesian folk art which is
threatened by modernization.

The actual component parts of a becak, the dual-passenger
tricycle-rickshaw which at one point was widely used as a public
taxi in the residential areas of Jakarta, constitute the
composition of Yang Tersingkir (The Disenfranchised). The artist
satirically depicts the banning of becak from Jakarta since the
mid-1980s, using wayang characters to distinguish "the good" from
"the bad".

An unrefined raksasa (giant) figure is given the role of a
Tibum (Ketertiban Umum -- Public Order) official trying to
restore order in the midst of the chaotic environment of the
becak. Using this collage painting as a medium, the artist tries
to express his concern over the continual and systematic defeat
of the weak common folk, in this case becak drivers, as a result
of an alteration of a system.

Environmental commentary

In addition to addressing issues of social change, Wahyoe also
tries to remind us about the environment through his art. The
material that Wahyoe uses, whether they be wayang kulit leather
puppets, wooden masks, colored fabric, bedek -- a screen used to
enclose or subdivide spaces made of woven strips of bamboo -- or
the becak, all take root in nature. Sometimes he goes so far as
to include cross sections of a teak wood tree to provide this
reference to natural resources.

A painting that includes the wayang puppet of a densely
forested Gunungan (Mythological Mountain), which in Wahyoe's
perception symbolizes the realm of both the gods and the devils,
epitomizes the artist's references to the environment. The
Gunungan, placed in the center before a wayang performance
commences and removed once an episode begins, becomes a metaphor
of nature that is continually and inevitably manipulated for the
purposes of human life and existence.

Incorporating natural materials, Wahyoe's works are by no
means meant to be judgmental. They are, however, expressions of
his concern over the environment. "Man's promises to nature will
never be fulfilled," he exclaims.

Third dimension

Although a majority of his work expresses issues of public
concern, Wahyoe's concentration, contemplation, and meditation
are often very personal in nature. In Kenangan (Memories) he
placed pairs of shoes that he found swept ashore Legian Beach.
While the painting may address an environmental issue, it is also
expresses the artist's personal concern. He contemplates, "might
the owner have drowned?"

In turn, the responses from the viewers of this painting are
also personal. Upon seeing the children's shoes on the canvas,
many mothers who have seen the work reminisce about their own
experiences, taking their children for a walk on the beach.

Wahyoe Wijaya's "third dimension", according to the artist, is
"a spiritual dimension...in which they all fuse in my happiness,
in my sorrow, in my meditation, and explodes along with my spirit
onto the canvas."

Our appreciation of his work will depend on how the explosion
of his "third dimension" relates to our own personal dimension.
An exhibit of his works, Dimensi Ketiga, opens next Monday, at
the Balai Budaya.