Batik in technicolor

Wasti Atmodjo ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Denpasar   |  Fri, 07/03/2009 3:24 PM  |  Culture

Improvised patterns: Batik artist Ida Ayu Jiwa refuses to stick to the classic and tries to explore new patterns.

A number of batik designs have been patented and are well-known, such as Balinese motifs like the traditional patra and kamasan. But batikmaker Wong Bali refuses to let the trend restrain her.

The company's owner, Ida Ayu Jiwa, prefers to freely express herself through patterns that suit her imagination, she even combines her batik with many types of ornaments.

Her production house, which specialises in making batik, opened in 2004 and has since lured many batik lovers, including those from as far away as Europe to the attractive motifs and colors.

"Quite a few customers, as well as those coming just to window shop, find the motifs free and wild," said the woman better known as Dayu, at a recent exhibition and workshop at the Wantilan Sidik Jari Museum, Denpasar.

Wong Bali only makes one product per motif, making the products quite exclusive.

While she realizes that batik is sometimes identified with older people, Wong Bali tries to attract younger circles by playing with different motifs and colors.

When it comes to motifs, Dayu is adamant that she must use Balinese instead of Javanese motifs.

"My motifs are not the same because I use different textures and other features. When I show the results to batik artists in Java, their comments are the same; they find the designs too complicated."

One of the motifs is a dragon, which she created to please herself, keeping in mind that along with an increase in the appreciation of fashion, many women have been choosing batik with smaller motifs or designs.

At times, the dragon is streched longer than usually seen in batik designs, even with the size of the body out of proportion. It's the same with the patra motifs, which are usually portrayed as being very big. In this case, Dayu shrunk her motifs and put them in an unusual position.

"Mainly I go for free and expressive style, not copying a motif 100 percent," she explains.

Dayu says she buys her materials from a draper in Denpasar.

She always chose quality cottons and silks because these affect the patterns and the coloring. Moreover, these materials do not absorb color.

Silk is usually used to make shawls, which are attractive for customers overseas. The shawl comes only in one size, two meters by 50 centimeters. The Wong Bali batik uses two sizes of cotton - 2.25 meters and 2.50 meters long, with a standard width.

The available motifs are suitable for all ages, and for both men and women. She also takes into account big sized and slim customers.

Her free style, however, has a downside - it is difficult for her to get workers.

At first, she tried to hire experienced batik artists from Java, but the result did not meet her expectations.

"It's neat, so neat in fact. But I didn't find my soul in that work. That was to be expected because an experienced batik artist has her mind set on standard batik patterns," she said.

Instead of losing hope, she approached young Balinese - those who had just graduated from vocational school as well as those who are still studying.

She held discussions about painting in general before going into batik with them. For those who were interested in experiencing batik-making, she prepared tools and materials for practice.

"I found them through a long process that lasted for months. Only a few passed and so far their progress has been good. It's clear that they can adjust to what I want," she said.

"In the future I need to empower many more young people in Bali, especially those who have dropped out from school, and I hope to supply them with the capital for their businesses."

Dayu gets ideas for her designs in many ways, from the Internet, books, magazines or when walking in gardens or parks. Ideas can come in the forms of shapes and colors of leaves and stones as well as the soil - sometimes they even come to her when visiting other people's houses.

Her ideas are then drawn manually or by using a computer. She then puts her paintings onto the cloth.

"I decide everything, from designs to colors. I even mix the colors when they are ready to be used. But I also take into account ideas from my workers," Dayu said.

Generally, she uses between two or three different colors.

Apart from using artificial colors, she also gives natural colors a try. She uses trengguli fruit to get a dark color, mahogany for a florid effect; the flowers of sedap malam for a pale yellow color and tea for a green color that tends to look old, just to name a few.

The mixture of natural plant extracts affects the colors; the lotus, for example, creates a dark accent.The problem is that natural colors need a long time to be processed and supplies of raw materials are still limited.

A minimum of 20 dyeing sessions is necessary for every product to make the colors more resilient and give a natural impression.

She said that she was taught by her teacher to make the natural indigo blue color that which requires a unique process in which the cloth is left in the mud of a ricefield for two weeks once the coloring process has finished.

"The cloth is not wrapped in plastic or anything, just left there covered in mud for two weeks," Dayu said.

And the result is extraordinary.

"It creates an old blue color which is so classic," she said.

Since all the batik-making processes is done manually, Wong Bali is able to produce just 10 to 20 products every month.

"Actually quantity is not yet our goal since we make one product for one motif and each of them takes a long time to complete," Dayu said.

"If the customer doesn't want to be patient, well, I suggest it's better that they do not order."

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