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Rio Saren parts with convention to forge fresh direction in Balinese art
The Balinese painter and sculptor eschews artistic conventions through a unique style that fuses imagination with a philosophical underpinning.
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'Tumpukan Benda Tua' (Pile of old objects) by Rio Saren, "Exploration: Divine Harmony" solo exhibition, April 11-25, 2021 at Titik Dua Ubud (JP/Richard Hortsman)
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span new="" roman="" style="mso-fareast-font-family:" times="">Over the past two decades, Balinese artist Rio Saren has experimented obsessively with color, objects and form, striving to satisfy his curiosity. Fusing insight with imagination, he creates unique paintings and objects outside the conventions of Balinese art.
Rio’s fifth solo exhibition, “Exploration: Divine Harmony”, featured 16 paintings, four sculptures and two installations and ran from April 11 to 25 at the Titik Dua Ubud boutique hotel in Peliatan. The event was held to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the TiTian Bali Foundation, which focuses on supporting and promoting Balinese visual arts.
Serumpun padi di sawah (Clump of rice in a paddy, 2020) describes a small hut in the artist’s family-owned rice field. The structure’s apex, metal roof and walls are rendered in dark tones to dominate the composition, which is divided into distinct sections.
The sky is represented as a plane of olive green, while the field comes alive in brilliant blue. The mature rice plants are depicted in ochers and bronze tones, while tiny brush strokes in black delineate blades of grass. Metal tools and an array of timber complete the visual information to juxtapose the “still” planes of color with the potent contrast of a busy milieu of rigid structural lines.
Rio compliments this work with a mixed media installation of the same title. Three visual elements define it: horizontal corrugated iron panels represent the hut and the background; tiny, triangular pieces of iron shoot up from sheet metal to describe the foreground; a contrasting arrangement of metal tools becomes the “focal point”.
“After observation and analysis, I translate the objects that are interesting and contain the essence of life using my language of expression. Some works contain moral messages reflecting upon a simpler and more honest lifestyle,” Rio said in commenting on his creative process.
