Sharing a secret: Brothers Three Plus One at home in their Ubud studio. JP/J.B.Djwan
With their near-waist length black hair, collection of berets, London caps and T-Shirts rich in controversial text, it is clear at first glance Three Plus One work in the arts.
These four brothers are very cool; the fact that the three eldest, Nyoman, Ketut and Wayan have long bones that grow in a zig-zag form, keeping their stature around 70 centimetres matters not a drop. In fact, says Wayan, their physical handicap known commonly as glass bone disease, actually adds to the complexity of their paintings.
“I think we do have a secret that no one else can ever feel or know that comes through in our paintings,” says Wayan following the opening of their exhibition, “Changes in Life”, at Adi’s Gallery in Ubud Saturday evening.
That secret world is whispered at in many of the works that bears a violence and a compassion, which rolls across their canvases, each quite unique to the artist.
Ketut Budiarsa’s contemplative rounded figures with fingers as noses, arms as legs or heads, has each body part twisting and turning almost with the spinning of the earth of itself.
Wayan Piadnya’s paintings of strained and bloodied bodies with outstretched arms, or lovers twined above their octopus like legs offers us a glimpse of what it feels like when your body’s cells take on a life outside the normal run.
Nyoman Budiarta, the older of the four brothers that make up Three Plus One, focuses more on the outer world. His painted collages using found objects discuss terrorism. The ticking clock in the works attached to a replica bomb, is not only about terrorism, but also a metaphor for the world. “The clock is ticking,” he says. Breasts in a wire cage represent the anti-pornographic law and the appalling notion that breasts could ever be classified as pornography.
The youngest artist is Kadek Budiana, a strapping young man at a good 1.80 meters in height or more. Kadek does not have glass bone disease, but appears to have eight legs as he spends much of his life as the legs of his older brothers. As he cares for his brothers, so does he tend the family garden, and it is the natural world that is the focus of his paintings.
Over the years Three Plus One’s reputation as artists has steadily grown, mentors such as the great Kartika Affandi giving their support along the road and a bemo to carry them to exhibitions.
“We normally travel on the back of motor bikes, but that is really dangerous for Wayan as he can not hold on,” says Nyoman.
Three Brothers Plus One’s latest exhibition is, quite simply, a knockout. The brothers are growing always clearer in their visual discussion and technical skills.
On entering the exhibition two huge works by Wayan stop the breath. To the left is a large orange figure spewing blood, its feet travel in one direction, its torso in the
opposite.
To the right are the lovers surrounded by frangipani, their love appears eternal, barring the great gash in the male’s forehead and their almost jelly fish like legs.
“I think we do have a secret that no one else can ever feel or know that comes through in our paintings.”
“My work is about how the world is today. The violence in my work is what I see around me.
People fighting maybe to get money or power; they are all very angry in this century. My works are not because my body is like this, but because I see so many problems in the world, wars, money and power,” says Wayan who has a grin as wide as the sky.
Working on large canvases has meant discovering new ways of traveling their canvases in progress explain Wayan and Ketut.
Ketut has a one bone in his right arm, Nyoman has one bone in his left arm, and Wayan is missing bones in both arms; working a large canvas within these confines demands some smart moves.
“I sit on the canvas so I can reach,” says Wayan. Ketut and Wayan both sketch out their works on stretched canvases, turning them as they work so as to reach the entire surface.
“When it comes to placing in the color, we take out the stretcher, lay the canvas on the floor and sit on it like a carpet so we can reach all the areas,” explains Ketut of the technique that allows them to “make works up to two metres or more. I suppose we could make work as big as we want now,” says Ketut.
Nyoman, on the other hand, tends to work with his canvases against a wall and creates smaller collages that draw the eye to the found objects telling his story.
“I like installation or collage because of all the things I can use that are otherwise thrown away.
It’s taking rubbish, the things people throw away and translating that waste into art. The bomb painting is a metaphor of life today. There are terrorists everywhere who will kill you if you disagree with their viewpoint. It also about time running out for the earth; I want to make people realize time is short,” says Nyoman.
His imprisoned breasts work was created when the anti pornographic law first reared its head in Indonesia. At that time, Nyoman said he was wary of exhibiting inflammatory pieces. Two years on and the work stands strong in the “Changes in Life” exhibition.
“In my view, breasts can not be pornographic. Breasts feed babies, so I feel this can’t be pornographic. I know some people see breasts only as porn, but for me, they are just a normal part of life,” explains Nyoman.
Ketut’s works speaks of love and acceptance, introspection with almost a mother like nurturing of
joy, regardless of the pain he often suffers.
“For the past two years, I have been in pain all the time. It was terrible, but recently I’ve had acupuncture and it’s much better. I still get sore in my hips after painting for a long time, but not like before,” says Ketut, who underwent radical surgery some years ago to straighten his legs.
The operation failed and the steel rods began pushing through his flesh as his bones continued their zigzag growth against the steel.
Love and longing is often meshed within the painting of Three Plus One, all say they have been in love and hurt by the experience.
“My heart aches when I remember a girl so I paint that emotions,” says Ketut, Kadek found himself caught playing the third man in a relationship and paints the anger of that betrayal, Wayan says he has simply given up on love, “I am over that,” he laughs.
“I remember a girl I loved, she is gone. It’s very difficult to find love, because maybe for the girls, we can not walk so that makes trouble for her, sometimes it’s sad, but that’s life,” says Ketut, turning to the canvasses that allow all four of these outstanding brothers the room to express their secret universe.
