Selfie queen: Cindy Sherman’s artwork, which includes her dressing up in various costumes, has sold for up to US$3.89 million. (JP/Teressa Warianto)

Women in art continue to push boundaries and challenge traditional norms.

Despite taking up less space than their male counterparts in history books and art galleries, Indonesian artists such as Emiria Sunassa, IGAK Murniasih (Murni) and Sri Astari Rasjid continuously pushed the boundaries and defied traditional rules by producing art that many would not have dared to do.

During the Women in Arts Presentation in @america in Jakarta, art critic Carla Bianpoen and curator Charles Schuester joined forces to talk about Indonesian and American women in arts, discussing how these women have pushed the creative boundaries of painting, sculpture and photograph.

For these women, art often becomes the only possible language of expression — a way to heal from personal trauma and to criticize social problems of their time.

One female artist who is largely forgotten by history, Emiria, was among the very first artists who started the modern art movement in Indonesia and became a pioneer for future Indonesian women in art.

Painting during a time when an artist’s imagination was limited to their local surroundings, Emiria became the first and only artist to dare to imagine a united Indonesia, painting diverse subjects and scenery.

She was also ahead of her time in terms of gender equality, using women not only as objects but also as subjects of her paintings. The women she painted emulated a free and independent spirit, as can be seen in their eyes — painted looking straight instead of down.  

Another groundbreaking female artist, Murni, is described by Carla as having created the “most authentic, daring and inspiring art of our time”. For Murni, art became a tool to express the pain she had endured as a woman throughout her life.  

“She had been sexually abused by her father when she was 9 years old, an experience that haunted her for the rest of her life; with prolonged nightmares that she could hardly get rid of.”  

As a result, she painted wild, absurdist images of distorted body parts and female genitalia as a way to reconcile with her past trauma.

“She defied social stereotypes for women and the social taboos that were unacceptable for women. She painted vaginas, breasts, genitalia,” explains Carla.

While some may see her works as pornographic, in reality, Murni was simply enjoying herself; reclaiming her body and celebrating it for her own pleasure.

Finally, there is Sri Astari Rasjid, whose artwork is inspired by Javanese culture, which she was born into.

“Astari’s contemporary artwork, which spanned three decades, signified an important direction for Indonesian artwork, making it clear that art inspired by culture and tradition can still break established traditional dynamics without losing its essential value,” said Carla.

“She started to paint as the only possible language of expression, initially using the Western-style image in which she was trained but she soon switched to a mode that was more like the Javanese language — layered, refined and with a sense of fine aesthetics.”

Astari uses many of her pieces, including one titled Yang Terhormat Ibu (Esteemed Mother), to explore tension between female and male energy in her culture, as well as current universal gender issues. She once said, “I am using my Javanese culture to respond to the issues of the world.”

One of her most notable pieces involves the Javanese female garment kebaya, and she has repeatedly used kebaya as a kind of barometer for the conditions of women and the country.

One particular kebaya, titled Prettified Cage, was made in 1998 at the start of the Reform Era as a symbol of hope and change not only for the country but for gender equality as well.

So what do these female Indonesian artists have in common with those in the US? Schuester discussed three American artists: Georgia O’Keeffe, Louise Nevelson and Cindy Sherman.

Like their Indonesian counterparts, he said these American women used art as a tool of expression and simply as a way to enjoy themselves.

Cindy Sherman, for example, whom Schuester deemed to be the one who invented the selfie, took pictures of herself in various outfits simply because she enjoyed dressing up. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but you can see how these women celebrate femininity,” he said.

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The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post

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