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The perseverance of Wayan Karja
Sitting on a wooden chair in an open pavilion bordering that beautiful panorama, painter I Wayan Karja glanced south toward his spacious family compound anda thin, almost unseen, smile formed on his lips.
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Artist I Wayan Karja (JP/Seto Wardhana)
That morning a drizzle had turned the lush rice fields in Penestanan Kaje hamlet into a relaxing vista.
Sitting on a wooden chair in an open pavilion bordering that beautiful panorama, painter I Wayan Karja glanced south toward his spacious family compound anda thin, almost unseen, smile formed on his lips.
"I bought the land here in 1981 when it was still inexpensive, around Rp 6 million [US$466] per 100 square meter plot of land. Initially, I just wanted to build a studio.
Nowadays, the compound comprises four large buildings set on more than 700 square meters of land with manicured gardens and trees. A two-story building serves as Karja's main studio, while the other buildings house his family members and students, who come from as far as Norway, to learn painting and his signature visual meditation of Pengider Bhuana, which was named after the aesthetic period that catapulted his name onto the international stage.
Classy villas with western architecture and tropical-style houses now dot the area, which in the
1980s was dominated by rice fields and narrow dirt trails. It is one of the favorite residential hubs preferred by tourists and expatriates who want to escape the rowdy traffic of Ubud without having to relocate to the far-away Payangan or Tegalalang.
It is very tempting to assume, from his material success, academic stature and aesthetic achievement, that Karja has achieved all that a man can dream of. His calm demeanor and soft voice further strengthen that assumption.
