What is behind colors in painting?

By Carla Bianpoen

JAKARTA (JP): The use of color has always been of great importance to artistic expression in various cultures, but rarely, if ever, have different interpretations of color been thematic in a painting exhibition.

A current exhibition at the Gedung Pameran Senirupa Depdikbud at Jl. Merdeka Timur 14, Central Jakarta, features 14 colors Indonesian painter Nunung W.S. and Els Wiegel from the Netherlands have worked with, each in their own special way.

Nunung, who works with the spirit of color to bring out her experiences has teamed up with Els, who has a conceptual frame work coupled with form, to share their fascination with color.

Behind the Curtain is the exhibit's title which will run through Oct. 13.

Wiegel

Els Wiegel, a graduate of the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, has meticulously studied form and color conceptions, and has made her philosophic. One series of paintings reflects the individual meaning she gives to color.

"The color road I travel in my works starts with black," she says, referring to her painting entitled Mirror. Then she continues to the next two paintings explaining that "in the darkness you meet yourself," and out of the darkness every day we try to reach the feeling of light blue. A feeling of freedom, inspired by our idealism and beliefs (Detail of Paradise), finally ending in a white star (Star of Love).

Her conceptual framework of color starts with black. Then follows red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue and purple. The colors which she uses for spiritual purposes follow the sequence of pink, yellow/gold, silver, red-gold, and ends with white.

This sequence is clearly visible in her collage of Jalan Warna Jakarta, in which she has assembled the little things she finds everywhere she goes. This includes a piece of a black plastic bag, pieces of cigarette packages, an "aqua" container, match boxes and even Baygon containers. Her three masks in red, blue and yellow, for which she has sought to find an Indonesian link, are each covered with a white mosquito netting. They are called The three brides.

Another work with Indonesian culture as a source is entitled Temple for Black and White. Els Wiegel reveals that she has a preference for contrast: Yin and Yang, black and white, plus and minus. Sometimes multiple focuses in the art work confuses the viewer, but of course this can raise awareness.

Wiegel's works on canvas, cloth or in the form of installations, seem to be heavily weighted on rational thinking, and in is therefore valuable. But the artist, who has previous experience with color design of housing blocks, is evidently striving to complement her rationally set pattern of color sequence to achieve effects "fitting the conceptual framework" with more spontaneity and personal expression.

Nunung

In contrast to Wiegel, Nunung W.S. uses colors as a tool to bring out her inner feelings and experiences. These colors are intuitively selected by going into her inner self. Intense concentration, often coupled with meditation, brings out a range of colors, which are then blended with her feelings and experiences.

Nunung's abstract expressionism, where yellow used to be predominant and some calligraphy was visible, has arrived at new avenues where the spirit of her colors include shades otherwise absent in her personal spectrum.

This growth has direct links to her study of the elements and the intrinsic colors found in traditional Indonesian cultures. The Shadow of Gunungan, for instance, is a large canvas with green, gold and red colors reflecting an inner peace, a combination of hope and faith, all heightened by the gold in the middle which probably refers to the beyond. Gunungan in the realm of wayang is the symbol for the universe, the cosmic mountain, which precedes every wayang performance. What is relayed by the artist is not the actual performance, nor the form of Gunungan, but the atmosphere during the performance. By immersing herself in the roots of traditional cultures, Nunung's works have acquired an added value of self-recognition, particularly evident in her relationship to shades of green.

"I have never been able to have green in my color spectrum," she reveals.

"I had an intuitive aversion to that color," she emphasizes.

But after studying the specific nuances used in traditional objects, places and performances, and after concentrated meditation, she has at last found the green which soothes her soul. It leans towards turquoise.

None of Nunung's canvasses actually need explanation. Viewers are drawn by the self explanatory depth of colors. Some small, insignificant colors are the needed finishing touch.

Nunung's works have no forms. Sometimes there is a subtle line or forlorn dots to indicate direction. The lines differ in color from the main colors enhancing the active powers in the painting. Her canvases are large with wide colored spaces.

Els and Nunung complement each other. Els' rational concept of color has enabled Nunung to explain her intuitive color selection. She says the knowledge of concept does not influence her own way of selecting colors. For Els Wiegel, the intuitive experiences of Nunung W.S. give her an impetus to experiment without the concept guide. In a symbolic act of sharing, they have jointly designed an installation which forms the threshold before entering the world of color.

Two huge banner-like curtains hang to the left and right of a wooden panel. They are white and black, indicating yin and yang. On the floor is a collage of Indonesian and Dutch media cuttings coming together on a yellow background.

Another joint installation is meant to combine the spiritual climb to the top of the Borobudur Temple with the color sequence used with 14 colors.

While Els' color frame starts with black, the starting point in this installation follows Nunung's feeling for white. A total of 121 earthen pots in graduated sizes filled with soil lead the way up to the summit of bliss. In practice, however, it is just an unconvincing narrow circuit.

The fascination the two artists have for color will be expanded with a Color Dinner, at which a selected group of people will reveal their personal experience with a certain color. Each of the 14 participants have been assigned a color used in the exhibition. The participants are invited to come dressed in black with a visible indication of the color they have been asked to represent. Each participant will have two and a half minutes to share their experience/emotion with the color represented. Then they will eat the food that each participant has brought in their assigned color.

"It is just a medium for interaction," explains Els Wiegel who has done this several times in Holland. In any case, there is an element of advocacy and raising awareness in the entire undertaking, a kind of cultural transmission.