Yogyanese Artist’s Perspective: Bali

For some unknown reason, after the fall of Soeharto, there was this artistic flurry and everywhere you looked in Yogyakarta there were artists displaying their works, on the streets and in galleries. From this mass artistic splurge there did emerge quite a few excellent artists. Yogyanese artists tend to have more expression and feeling in their works of art and one such person is Dyan Anggraini who is currently exhibiting her paintings in Bali.

Painter peers behind gendered masks
Susi Andrini, Contributor, Sanur

People often live with a pack of lies to hide something from others, and for rising artist Dyan Anggraini the country’s men and women are all wearing masks.

“It is like dark, ugly, two-faced faces covered by beautiful masks,” said Dyan, a rising female artist from Yogyakarta.

Dyan is currently holding a painting exhibition titled Beyond the Mask at Griya Santrian Gallery in Sanur, Bali, until April 28.

“We are living in a world that is filled with hypocrisy and dishonesty,” she said.

Dyan is a happy housewife and chairwoman of the Yogyakarta Cultural and Art Center. It is interesting to note that most of Dyan’s painting subjects are males wearing various kinds of masks.

“We have to admit that despite the rapid modernization process and changes of gender perspectives, we still see male-dominated power in almost every level of society,” she said.

In real life, the artist encounters many people from diverse social and educational backgrounds. “Yet, we can draw a similar line saying that our strong and rooted patriarchal society remains unaffected.”

“A painting is a clear and vivid portrayal of what is happening in our daily lives,” she said. Through her Quartet and Priyayi 1, 2, 3, 4, Dyan tries to portray the lives of aristocrat men trapped in feudalistic characters.

“I am a civil servant and I meet so many people, men in particulars, who are still very proud of retaining and exposing their `blue blood’ by acting like princes and kings within their work organizations,” Dyan said.

Dyan also presents paintings of women. In Sketsa 1, she depicts two women wearing masks. In Perihal Perempuan (About Women), Dyan portrays a humble woman in a mask wearing a traditional kebaya, or blouse. At her feet are plenty of cheerful flowers. In Kasih Ibu, (Mother’s Affection), an acrylic-pencil on canvas, Dyan illustrates a pregnant woman holding her toddler, surrounded by flowers and with wayang puppets in the background.

These paintings show how women are still trapped in their traditional and domestic roles as mothers and housewives, with their unconditional love and services.

Chairs, flowers and wayang figures dominate much of Dyan’s work. Chairs, she said, symbolize power, while flowers represent beauty and hope. Dyan uses puppet figures to portray wisdom.

“In the past, pre-Islamic period, our country adopted Hindu beliefs in which wayang performances played a significant role in building the character of people.”

For those who understand and read the Ramayana and Mahabharata epics, the stories provide both good and bad characters as role models. People see good deeds in the character of Rama in the Ramayana epic. Khrisna, Yudhistira, Arjuna, Bima and the twins Nakula and Sadewa are examples of honest, brave and good people, while King Destarata symbolizes a weak, ambitious and hesitant leader.

Dyan tries to synergize the old epics with the contemporary world, touching on contentious social issue like corruption.
In Dialog 2007, an acrylic and pencil on canvas, Dyan depicts a wayang character, Semar, a symbol of wise father, and a young man carrying a number of chairs.

To explain her ideas, Dyan often writes lines of text on her canvases. “Text becomes one of the most important elements in my works. It serves as significant and meaningful notes about certain issues,” Dyan explained.

Through her contemplative works of art, Dyan will certainly enrich the local art scene and add to the number of female artists on the Indonesian art stage.

Griya Santrian Gallery
Jl. Tamblingan 47, Sanur, Denpasar
Tel. 0361-288181, Fax 0361-288185
Email: griyasantrian@santrian.com
Website: www.santrian.com