Wara Anindyah's paintings disclose dark revelations

Wara Anindyah's paintings disclose dark revelations

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta

For young artist Wara Anindyah, painting is a calling that
cannot and must not be ignored lest she'll be spared no peril. In
her 79-page book titled Melukis Mengolah Sukma (Painting Develops
the Soul) the 31-year-old artist repeatedly hints at the
confusing state of her psyche as a young girl.

"Perhaps painting is an effort to walk away from the insane,
or to escape suicidal forces," she said.

Her current solo exhibition, Dongeng Rembulan Jatuh (Tale of
the Falling Moon), running to Dec. 8 at Bentara Budaya Jakarta,
testifies to the dark undercurrents taking hold of her mental
state. While her figures are meant to represent the ancient
Chinese, and her themes circle around the family bond so
outspoken in the Chinese tradition, there is an air of poignant
gloom in the haunting faces on her large canvases.

Is this revealing the truth beyond the realities of daily life
or is it profound cynicism toward the make-believe that has
become an undeniable part of our society? Or, perhaps, her eerie
images may just be hallucinations drawing on the legends of the
ancient?

Whatever it is, one cannot elude the notion that protest and
rebellion lie at the heart of her tormented mind.

Her works contain the favorite stories of the ancient Chinese,
such as Dongeng Rembulan Jatuh, which allows people to make
wishes and hope of a better future. But there are also scenes of
daily realities when two parties in the family clash and
communication is cut off, imaged in Sunyi Melepas Raga (Silent
Releases the Body), in which an older man sits in the chair while
some younger people in defiance stand in front of him. There are
also grandparents with their grandchildren, or a couple with four
children, supposedly in a happy mood, but still with faces that
suggest the opposite.

Tragic and at the same time comical is the title of her
painting Nyanyian Perjaka Bisu Buat Gadis Tuli (The Song of Dumb
Bachelors for a Deaf Girl).

Reactions to the unconventional way of life of some of the men
of letters in her environment are documented in her painting
titled Sastrawan Sinting (Crazy Man of Letters). You know what
they do, she explains haltingly, playing around with women,
drinking, etc.

A hint at the issue of a modern woman's imago is rendered in
the presentation of Istri Gelap (Mistress), where one would
expect the younger woman in Western dress to be a man's logical
second "hidden" wife, but the artist instead presents an old
woman in traditional Chinese dress, dozing off with a cat in her
arms, as the woman of a husband's resort.

And what about Wanita Terindah (The Most Beautiful Woman),
featuring a reclining figure with bulging tummy, fat thighs, a
ball-shaped face, a hairless head, the opposite of the ideal
beauty?

Taman Terlarang (The Forbidden Garden) reminds of a woman's
sanctity, stained by two scoundrels maliciously peeping, while
Kembang Keluarga (The Flower of the Family) featuring a woman's
face, smiling as if in desperation, is one of the most impressive
paintings in the collection.

While most images conjure up a world of unreal, eerie
creatures, there is the smiling face of Dewi Welas Asih (Goddess
of Love) and the peaceful face in Mencari Diri Sendiri (Searching
One's Identity).

Wara herself explains the search for her identity, and the
blood from her ancestral grandmother that runs through her veins.
Spending her youth in the center of China town in Magelang gave
the impetus to go the path of the Chinese she observed during her
early years.

A recent trip to China and the ancient palace grounds was an
unforgettable experience. "I was so stirred, I could not make one
single painting when back home," she said.

That is something very exceptional, given her continuous want
of this activity.

"When I can't paint, I get cranky and moody," she revealed.

Not that she has nothing else to do, for she takes her being a
mother of four and a housewife very seriously, not to speak of
the numerous books she reads, the articles she writes, the hours
she spends teaching.

Apparently, painting is when she can be herself, and it's then
that she comes to real life.