Yogya artist Hadi Soesanto creates art out of sand

By Sri Wahyuni

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Creativity seems to be an inseparable part of an artist's character as can be seen in the works of Yogyakartan artist Hadi Soesanto, who blends sand paintings and contemporary frames in his works.

Unlike other painters, sand is an important element in most of Hadi's paintings as he uses a mixture of wood glue, sand and acrylic paint.

The painter said the use of sand in his paintings was a result of his exploration while he was still a student at Yogyakarta's Indonesian Institute of the Arts (ISI) in 1989.

His paintings take on various objects. Most, however, can be found in daily activities, such as old women in Javanese traditional costume, old men without shirts or even nude children. He also brings, among other things, piles of bricks, sandals, oranges and traditional water pots onto the canvas.

For many artists, a frame is just an accessory. But Hadi treats the frame of his painting as an integral part of his work.

"The frame is just as important as the painting itself. You cannot separate its existence from the painting," Hadi said.

In his painting titled Struggle of Life, for example, Hadi used a the frame of a single-sized hospital brass bed to set off his painting.

"I have a very strong memory about the bed," said Hadi, explaining that he came up with the idea of using it as a frame for his painting after he was treated at a hospital for two weeks due to a respiratory problem.

In another work titled Waiting (Forever?), he combined a conventional wooden frame in the lower part of the painting with an iron frame in the upper part. He also uses PVC pipes as frames for some of his works, including Tak Tahu Apa Maunya (Don't Know What He Wants), The Last Train and United Colors of Consumerism.

Sometimes, Hadi said he painted the same objects or themes for different paintings, such as in Waiting (Forever?). "I made some additions to the painting, and the result was that it was entered in the Asean Art Award VI in Kuala Lumpur," Hadi said.

His first solo exhibition at Bentara Budaya last month marked the artist's comeback to the painting world after abandoning it for some time because of other activities.

In the eyes of curator Dwi Marianto of ISI Yogyakarta, Hadi did not place all the objects in their real context. "Instead, he places them in absurd, surreal ones," Dwi said.

He took Waiting (Forever?), which won the fourth Indonesian Art Competition (1999) and entered in the ASEAN Art Award VI in Kuala Lumpur (2000), as an example. Dwi said the object of the painting was a metaphoric object of a community whose people are in long and uncertain waiting.

"This work is a description of a social condition in the country at that time (1997-1998), when many prodemocracy activists were kidnapped by trained and professional individuals or groups who theoretically were supposed to protect the community," Dwi said.

The curator also noticed that through Hadi's paintings he showed adequate artistic sensitivity and a high skill in representing ideas containing his personal comments or concern over the existing political and social reality.

"He is really committed to his field and is very serious, patient and thorough in creating his works," Dwi said.