Jumaadi: Inspired by Java, charmed by Oz

Dewi Anggraeni , Contributor , Melbourne | Sat, 03/01/2008 12:37 PM | Lifestyle

Like a true artist, Jumaadi heeds his heart. When he left his village of Pecantingan over twelve years ago, international art awards were not on his agenda.

He was following his heart. Jumaadi had fallen in love with an Australian girl who eventually brought him all the way to Sydney.

It was the awards which later came to him.

The 22-year-old East Javanese "kampong boy" -- his own self-description -- did not let culture shock deter him from enjoying living and learning.

He studied fine arts at Sydney's National Arts School and began to hold exhibitions after graduating in 2000.

His artistic style and unique expression caught the attention of the arts establishment as well as art lovers.

In two successive years he won the Waverley Arts Prize in the Open Winner for Painting category, and second prize at the Art on the Rocks, Salon des Refuses and was highly recommended for the Mosman Art Prize in 2003. On top of that, he won a scholarship to return to study at the National Arts School.

Jumaadi never stopped painting, sculpting and holding exhibitions, and attracted more awards; the latest being the Inaugural John Coburn Award for Emerging Artists, as part of the 56th Blake Prize for Religious Art in 2007.

The judges commented that Jumaadi's work was "like a broken-up and laid out manuscript. Evoking the multiplicity of experiences and giving vignettes in the confusing lives of its actors, it references much in art as it does in life which causes one to pause, consider, and yet enjoy its street-wise comic-book illustrations, as well as its deft intelligence ...".

Jumaadi was born and raised in a rural environment.

"When I was a child, the village was still dominated by rice paddies and bamboo clumps. There was a small cottage industry of batik-making.

"My family were fish farmers. My father used to make netting baskets from bamboo to catch fish in the ponds and swamps. I used to collect the bamboo shavings, and with my friends, we'd make grass puppets out of them. We also used twigs from cassava plants as handles.

"Then when we herded our ducks from swamp to swamp, we'd rest from time to time and make more puppets and set up impromptu performances. We were brought up with the village performances of the Mahabharata, so we knew the story and the characters by heart," he recalls.

His love of nature is not limited to the rural environment of Pecantingan. The open horizon of Australia, which stretches for miles and miles, has gradually become part of his psyche.

"I like the extended sunset in outback Australia where the sky changes color, from gray to violet, then turning blue and purple, before going dark with silver, sometimes with a gold lining."

He is also enchanted by many things most people take for granted, like the twilight hue over rain-clouds; the sandy earth in the desserts punctuated by reddish rocks; the small hills which never obscure the darker blue of the ocean behind them; and the feeling of insignificance when moving in the desserts, surrounded by the stars in the limitless sky.

He has also learned to love the isolation that outback Australia offers -- something he could never experience in a village in East Java.

His ongoing exhibition -- called Story from Cloud, Rain & Sky, which he said was devoted to places and experiences he would like to have shared with his father -- may reflect the fruit of his latest communion with his hometown. He went there on the day of Idul Fitri in October last year.

Jumaadi has a multi-arts studio there which he calls Rumah Budaya Pecantingan or Pecantingan Cultural Home.

"It is a fact that most of the artistic juices in my psyche come from the people and places around my place of origin, enriched by the folklore I absorbed and then assimilated and recreated into new images with a new language and presented to a more universal public," he ponders very self-perceptively.

He added he no longer told stories to his friends and family in his village, but rather, told stories about his village to different audiences using various forms -- visual, performing and story-telling.

Not least important in Jumaadi's success in reaching out to the public is his unusual personality; he embraces new things and has a genuine belief that he has something very entrancing to share with those who care to listen and learn.

* Story from Cloud, Rain & Sky is on display at Legge Gallery, 183 Regent Street, Redfern, New South Wales, Australia, from Feb. 26 to March 15.

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