Artist: Sabar Subadri works on a painting in Yogyakarta in this undated photo. Munarsih Sahana

“I was left behind by my hands,” Sabar Subadri wrote in the catalogue of his current solo painting exhibition Natura Esoterika at the Jogja Gallery in Yogyakarta.

“Life without hands does not bother me. Just like a son of a gecko who does not mind crawling on the wall and is not jealous of a kitten proudly walking on his four feet,” wrote Sabar about his life with disability.

The 34-year-old artist uses his feet to paint, as he was born without hands.

Visitors to the exhibition do not stop only to admire the beauty of nature portrayed in the man’s works, but should understand the consequences of what is depicted, he said. That’s why, he added, he is presenting almost every
painting now on display from Feb. 1 to Feb. 10 with a poem to confirm the meaning of the images he put on canvas.  

Twenty-six paintings in a naturalist realist style and a number of paintings created by eight colleagues who are fellow members of the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (AMFPA) from Indonesia are on display.

Referring to linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, who wrote that words in language systems were collective products of social interaction, Sabar argues that creating a painting for him is also to transform his thoughts through the images he made.

For Sabar, the human body is a complex system that generates movement in accordance with any given situation. What is more important is how the brain guides the movement.

When asked whether it is difficult to paint using his feet, Sabar admitted it was because the equipment he uses is designed for people without physical limitations.

He usually takes a break every fifteen minutes when he is painting. It can take him between two and three weeks to finish a single painting, depending on the level of difficulty.

It took him six weeks to finish one particular painting; a reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. He took care to reproduce such a famous work of art because he believes it is important to care about precision and accuracy.

Melimpah (Abundant). Munarsih Sahana Melepas Yang Lalu (Becoming a New Thing, 50 x 70 centimeters, oil on canvas) is an image of a hanging butterfly just emerged from a cocoon. The poem that accompanies the painting implies a transformation from a greedy caterpillar into a vulnerable but beautiful butterfly — an insect with an elegant look.  

He could have painted a more beautiful butterfly flying over blooming flowers, but composed a butterfly fresh from the cocoon because he wanted to emphasize the transformation process in life, suggesting sacrifices could result in better performance.

Sabar had a difficult childhood, yet he feels lucky to have met a number of helpful people, including Colin McLenan, a social activist from New Zealand who worked for the Yakum rehabilitation center in Yogyakarta.

McLenan went to Salatiga to study Indonesian and met Sabar when he was only 3 years old. He helped Sabar with physical therapy and he suggested that Sabar be sent to kindergarten two years later. McLenan also helped his parents look for a primary school for Sabar.

Sabar can remember very well how his mother, Wiwit Rahayu, carried him from one building to another in order to find a primary school for him. Ibu Sujatmi, principal of Kalicacing 2 Primary School, was happy to allow Sabar to study at her school. There he was encouraged to participate in a number of painting contests to represent the school, and his art activities were reported in local newspapers.

When he was a fourth grader, a publisher representing the AMFPA foundation in Jakarta offered him a student membership. This encouraged Sabar’s father, Subadri, to invite Amir Rachmad, a noted fine artist who was later connected to the LEKRA art movement, to become Sabar’s art tutor.

A painting titled Memanjat Pohon Pinang (Climbing a Nut Tree) by Amir, a graduate of ASRI Fine Art Academy in Yogyakarta in the 1950s, is on display to honor the man who laid strong artistic foundations for Sabar.

For eight years, Sabar learned all the technical and philosophical aspects of fine art from Amir. Amir also brought Sabar to meet then naturalist painter Rustamaji and went to his studio in Klaten, Central Java.

Berbagi (Sharing, 50 x 65 centimeters, oil on canvas) showcases green, dangling ferns on a decaying tree trunk. The accompanying poem says there is no need for the dead trunk to be ugly, or to feel jealous of the graceful, fresh ferns. After all, they can live side by side in harmony.

Membership with AMFPA requires Sabar to submit works, and at the same time he receives financial contributions. As an associate member he is now working hard to climb the ladder to become a full member, which he described as a stable position but one in which he is required to widen his services beyond the artistic world.

Sabar is now focusing on promoting the quality of his works. He wants his paintings to be given a “wow” attribution. His work Melimpah (Abundant), a painting of robins pecking cherry fruits with snow in the background, is copyrighted. It has been reprinted many times by AMFPA for greeting cards.

Sabar, who likes to begin painting by applying oil directly on canvas, wants to stop writing poems to accompany his paintings someday, especially when he is sure spectators manage to look beyond the images depicted in his paintings and understand the messags he intends to share.

 

“Natura Esoterika”

Feb.1 - Feb.10, 2013
Jogja Gallery
Jl. Pekapalan 7,
Alun-Alun Utara, Yogyakarta
Telp. +62-274 419999, 412021, 7161188
Fax. +62 274 412023
Email: jogjagallery@yahoo.co.id