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Towards The Light - November 2004
I Wayan Sujana (Suklu) , 37th, was born in Bali, an exotic land if any !
So, when looking at his works, should one look for signs of cultural idiosyncrasies: exoticism, another aesthetics, a different symbolism?
Or for signs of universals: a global aesthetic and symbolic language in the making? Perhaps!
But isn't there yet another way at looking at it: putting aside analytical approach and simply see whether "it works", whether the artist's paintings visually speak to the viewer's subjectivity? They do.
Suklu belongs to the lucky few whose works don't need discourses and theories to be appreciated. "Style", in his works, is of little import. Behind his figurative or abstract manner lies in effect the magical touch of the gifted artist - the one whom fate has bestowed with sensitivity.
Look at the forms Suklu shapes in his paintings. They come and go, "deconstructed" perhaps, in the usual manner of modern art, but nevertheless flowing, at times uncovering the subconscious, at others obeying the hidden logic of the line.
Look at the characters he represents, who never "invade" the canvas, remain withdrawn and lonesome, yet welcoming.
And finally, look at his colors, hovering between brown and violet, and thus adding up to the impression of melancholy that already pervades the form. Entering Suklu's works is journeying into an artist's inner self, and eventually sharing with him a common human anguish, tempered by a common human smile.
Like all Balinese, Suklu does indeed smile, a smile hued by a long history of personal misfortunes.
Suklu was born near Klungkung, in a remote village by the sea. The sea was there with its boundless immensity, contrasted with the lushness of the background hinterland. Thus openness and yet withdrawal accompanied his growth.
Suklu's youth, however, wasn't that of a son of "Paradise island". He grew up in a broken family. Raised by an an uncle, his mother remained a shadow, who took her real shape only upon his reaching adulthood.
Later, as a handsome, yet utterly shy youth, he was, as he says, "hurt by women". It is no surprise, thus, that he has made them the haunting presence of his figurative works.
In 1992 - 1997 he studied at the Denpasar Art School, now called ISI (Institut Seni Indonesia), of which he is now a lecturer.
He then bloomed. His work has been crowned by several awards, the most important of which is the Indofood Award (2003), which has entrenched his presence as one of the stars of the Indonesian art scene.
He lives in Ubud, with his wife and two children.
What about Suklu's works? Two main trends characterize them. In the first one, the "form", albeit figurative, is secondary: Suklu "talks" candidly about himself, and the line and color naturally ensue. In the second, recent one, the investigation of form becomes a goal in itself, and Suklu the man withdraws into a meditative silence.
The works from the first category are "cathartic". They have the artist uncover the shadows that have been haunting him since childhood. Some are archetypal representations of classical Balinese icons: the Garuda bird, the tampak dara cross, and thus bear witness of the lasting presence in the artist's mind of the Balinese niskala world. Other combine with more personal, subconscious images, to bare Suklu's soul. This cathartic unveiling of the artist's shadows is present in his drawings, but it is best represented in the figurative series, already described above. These are an invitation to journey into the artist's inner world. To this writer, these works represent for this reason an important departure in a Balinese modern art laden with ethno-symbolic representation: they are the first systematic exploration of an artist's feelings. With Suklu, psychological art enters the field of Balinese painting.
In his second category of works, however, Suklu becomes abstract. _Expression disappears, replaced by the neutrality of the repetitive form. Weaving-like patterns invade the canvas, only rhythmed by color variations or their organisation in geometric constructions. Is the artist "hiding", trying to avoid the outpouring of emotions that naturally comes out in his figurative works? Or should repetition, obsessive, be understood like an incantative prayer, aimed at leading him beyond the turmoils of the self, into the meditative quietness of the void?
With ultimate spirituality hidden in the outward absence of a narrative; and abstraction functioning as a cure against the whimsical self?
Suklu's installations are part of a similar endeavour to that of his abstract works: they too aim at linking the artist to something "beyond". Consisting of "abstract", purposeless objects, but made with the techniques normally applied to the production of useful handicraft objects, mainly weavings. They constitute a symbolic appropriation of nature and space and thus, an attempt by the artist at creating meaning beyond the boundaries of known reality, into the niskala world of the "other reality"..
It is thus the inner, rather than the outer intensity of _expression that is the common trait of Suklu" psychological figurative works, meditative abstract paintings and installations.
Let's now wait for more haunting shadows and meditative quietness -their opposite, as Suklu further treads the path of many more creative years.
Jean Couteau
Holder of a doctorate from the Ecoles des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris.
Writes extensively on Balinese culture.
A regular contributor to Indonesian & French magazines and occasionally teaches at STSI Denpasar.
