I Wayan Karja: Mixing traditional art with analysis

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 07/10/2006 5:10 PM  |  Life

Rita A. Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

Balinese painter I Wayan Karja was stunned when the Tokyo-based Institute for International Policy Studies (IIPS) informed him he was one of the recipients of a Nakasone Yashuhiro Award.

He flew to Tokyo to receive the award together with a number of young, distinguished individuals from across the world. The presentation was made on June 28.

The award is intended to both honor meaningful achievement in the political, economic, cultural, and science and technology fields and encourage further endeavors that will contribute toward the realization of true peace and prosperity in the international community.

""I never dreamed of receiving such a highly regarded award. I feel so honored to know that my humble efforts have been recognized by the international community,"" he said of his experience at his newly renovated office at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts in Denpasar.

Such an award, he said, used to go to people with distinguished achievement in the fields of science and technology.

""Even here in my own country, artists and the arts receive little attention. The award, I consider, is an acknowledgement and encouragement for me and my artist colleagues to keep working hard,"" said Karja.

To become an artist, he said, requires painstaking effort with sometimes no future at all. There are no instant painters or dancers.

Karja is modest, given that he is now one of Bali's new generation of promising artists. He smartly blends natural talent and intellectual endeavor to delve into inspiration from the rich Balinese Hindu tradition and religion and re-translate them into the world of the contemporary arts.

He was born in the art village of Ubud, around 40 kilometers north of the Bali provincial capital, Denpasar, some 41 years ago to an artist father.

Like other Balinese painters, especially those who were born in Ubud, Karja naturally obtained wide and early exposure to the art world from the time he was a toddler. He followed in his father's footsteps.

His father worked in the ""Young Artists'"" style, adopted by a group of Balinese painters trained and nurtured by the Dutch artist Arie Smit, when he first lived on the island in 1956.

The style they established is essentially ""nave"", the scenes typically colorful, full of rural Balinese life. With Smit's training and encouragement, the group of young Balinese painters moved forward to a more ""mature"" style. The young Karja imitated this.

""I painted rural landscapes, beautiful female dancers and objects in accordance with my cultural background. They were rich in color, full of objects,"" Karja pointed out. He was so happy when a foreign visitor bought his first ""masterpiece"" for a few hundred rupiah, a large sum for a 13-year-old boy in 1978, the beginning of the island's tourism boom.

Karja began his formal art education at a secondary art school in Denpasar, after which he studied Fine Art and Design for five years at Udayana University, Denpasar. In 1999 he pursued higher education at the University of South Florida, U.S., where he obtained his Master of Fine Arts degree.

For a Balinese painter, born and heavily influenced by the deep roots of Balinese tradition and religion, attaining academic training in a foreign country has enriched both his skill and experience.

""I came across a very different culture and society to mine. I could call it 'serious culture shock' -- trapped between clichd Eastern and Western concepts, rural and urban. I did not know how to rationalize it all.""

The rural painter, who used to dig deep into the roots of Balinese culture as his main source of inspiration, suddenly felt lost. ""My years in Florida shaped my future painting style as well as my current life.""

Florida has no rice fields, no religious ceremonies nor beautiful dancers. ""I felt so alienated amid the busy place, mentally and visually disconnected from my surroundings.""

""My earlier work was totally emotional. Now it's more intellectual. But at the same time it's simpler. It's more spiritual. I spend a lot more time on one painting now. It's harder, but I enjoy it more,"" said Karja

Having encountered world-class artists and dedicated art professors, Karja began to get involved in a series of contemplative discussions enriching his professionalism and academic achievement.

Karja was heavily influenced by the ideas and work of Paul Klee, Robert Rauschenberg and Richard Diebenkorn.

He was also introduced to the cross-cultural thinking and new-age movements by the likes of poet and New Age guru Robert Bly.

He also praised Michael Rees for pushing him deeper into the realms of cross-cultural thinking. These people opened him up to more conscious, analytical thought about his own work.

He started to look inward to search for his objects. The Balinese believe strongly in cosmological balance -- the harmonious relation between man, nature and their Creator.

He tried to focus his work on the concept of balance. He expressed his work using the Mandala, the Sanskrit word for ""circle"", a schematized representation of the cosmos, often found in Hindu and Buddhist iconography. In addition to cosmic representation, Mandalas are often used as a device for meditation.

Karja adopted the concept of pengider bhvana, pengider meaning ""circle"" and bhvana meaning ""cosmos."" The concept of pengider bhvana is one of balancing nature, humanity and God. The Balinese have the obligation to maintain cosmic equilibrium to achieve mental, physical and spiritual well-being.

Karja tried to represent this equilibrium by eight geometric shapes, which are associated with a color, a number, a deity, qualities and aspects of life such as purity, density, danger, hope, etc., as well as parts of the body.

With this concept in mind, Karja embarked on a new direction. Suddenly, his works no longer consisted of figurative objects; no human beings or beautiful Balinese landscape-mountains, rivers and rice fields were painted on his canvas.

His works, many critics said, have veered toward abstraction. Karja's works marked a significant leap in Balinese art -- from tradition to a contemporary world. His influence has spread to numerous young talented Balinese artists.

In Bali and among Balinese painters, there is no real abstract painting as in the Western model, Karja explained. ""Most of our creations are still deeply rooted in our traditions, -- icons, symbolic and non-symbolic elements as well as philosophical and spiritual aspects of the Balinese way of life.""

""We try to express them in a more subtle and universal ways. I deeply adore the works of Balinese old masters,"" he added. Painting has become his key to the world of art and the meditative and spiritual life. ""I try to find the meaning of life, to ask who am I and who is my Creator through the process of creating an art work.""

Soon after finishing his studies, Karja had planned to open his own gallery and dedicate his life to his art studio in Ubud.

He had to teach art at his alma mater. Now, Karja is both an artist and intellectual bureaucrat. He is currently Dean of Fine Arts and Design School at the Indonesian Arts Institute in Denpasar. ""It is indeed difficult to live in two different worlds,"" he said.

However, he never complains. ""This is a great opportunity to play a small part in the improvement of art education in Indonesia, including school facilities, curriculums and budgets.""

The arts have never been an ""important and urgent issue"" for the Indonesian government, he says.

""Indonesia has abundant fresh talent in the field of the arts. However, we don't provide enough space for these promising artists,"" Karja said.

In terms of campus facilities, Karja could not compare his school with his campus in Florida or elsewhere in Japan or even with close neighbors Singapore and Malaysia.

Art teachers have a big responsibility to create open-minded places to nurture students to realize their potential, he said. ""I will take this responsibility,"" he confirmed.

In a world where peace is a rarity, art can function as a bridge to narrow cultural, racial, religious and political differences.

Karja frequently travels to numerous foreign countries giving lectures and speeches, engaging in collaborative art and exhibitions with foreign counterparts.

(On Saturday, July 9, some of Karja's works will be on display at Neka Museum, Ubud, Bali).

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