Paintings by Yasco Kanehira & Yenny Yohan.
At Ganesha Gallery, Four Seasons Resort Bali,
Jimbaran Bay.
Tel. 701010.
The visionary Swiss psychologist, Carl Gustav Jung, referred
to the phenomenon of the unexpected uniting of two or more
seemingly unconnected beings, feelings or events as synchronicity.
Currently, at the Ganesha Gallery in the exhibition ‘Two
Women’, either by chance or design, two painters have
united to exhibit their work. Though they both travel down
different paths they simultaneously arrive at the same destination,
which is to express their powerful internal or external visions
based on charged emotional states. In spite of their different
national backgrounds, the art of Yasco Kanehira of Japan and
Yenny Yohan of Indonesia, both originate in an intuitive world
of feelings. The paintings of both artists are fascinating,
not only for their attractive visuals but also because they
act as windows that allow us to catch intriguing glimpses
into the artists’ inner-worlds. The forceful works also
create a deep resonance with in us all, when we open ourselves
to the messages hidden behind the paintings’ tantalizing
surfaces.
Yasco Kanehira was born in 1975 in Kurashiki, Japan. She graduated
from the Kyoto City University of Arts with a Major in Painting.
Yasco has been exhibiting throughout Japan and Bali since
1994, and she has been living in Bali since 2001. In her paintings,
Yasco presents stylized, almost child-like, images of real
objects and the world around her. Created with a rapid, spontaneous,
graffiti-like expressive hand, the paintings become a ‘visual
journal’ narrating her day-to-day life and experiences.
Snatches of text may be occasionally found in the canvases,
to expand and emphasize her narrative. However, the story
Yasco tells is not an entirely happy one, though it does provide
a kind of ‘happy ending’. Beginning with the painting
‘Blessings’ Yasco creates an image that appears
to be a paean to the joys of domestic bliss. Her elementary
rendered images of houses and tables and chairs seem to imply
some sort of idealized suburban dream. But, as we travel through
her works, we come to realized that Yasco is at a crossroads.
The thick bold cross to be found in the painting ‘Reality’
suggests the paths Yasco’s life may follow, and the
choices she must make in deciding which road to take. This
dilemma is clarified even more in the canvas ‘Unspoken’,
where the rapidly scrawled text narrates a sad story of jealousy
and anger, concerning a rival for the affections of either
her partner or loved one. This is a painful painting, and
its outpouring of rage is confrontational, which is emphasized
by the harsh writing style of the text. Finally, Yasco offers
some form of redemption in the painting ‘Blessing’,
where ‘Heaven’ is depicted as a paradise full
of swaying lotus leaves. Perhaps a goal to be achieved when
the current pain of her life is sorted out. Yasco beautifully
reveals for us in her paintings the ordeals she is presently
undergoing, and she externalizes these torments for us through
her expressive and highly accessible work.
On-the-other-hand, Yenny Yohan offers us a cerebral journey
through her quest for personal peace and harmony. Yenny was
born in 1973 in Bandung, Java. She graduated from the Maranatha
Christian University in Bandung with a Major in Management
Science, but, she now paints profusely and still lives in
Bandung. Yenny has been exhibiting within Indonesia since
2004. Yenny freely admits that her work depends wholly on
her emotional state. “If I do not feel good’,
she says, “I cannot paint”. Yenny chooses to express
her inner-self through abstract images. She uses an abstract
expressionist technique, but, as she moves through her work
and approaches her ideal of a sense of tranquility, her styles
change to echo the emotional conditions she is experiencing.
With its vivid purple, mauve and lavender tones, and acute
geometric patterning, the painting ‘Bustling Underground
IV’ suggests a highly charged psychological state, which
is edgy and nervous, implying an artist riddled with anxiety.
However, as we observe the paintings ‘Wishful Thinking’
and ‘Wishful Thinking IV’, with their golden hues
highlighted by broad sweeping brushstrokes and bold dense
areas of brown forms, over-worked with intricate slashes and
scratches, we come to sense an artist working through her
secret longings and dreams. Finally, we are confronted by
the canvas ‘Reflections III’. This superb work
epitomizes her exploration of the ‘state of happiness’
from which she must paint. The vast expanses of golden hues,
in the painting, highlighted by just the merest touch of line,
suggest that eternal state of bliss and serenity that Yenny
relentlessly seeks. Through her works, Yenny takes us on a
most wonderful journey of self-discovery. We experience with
her all the pain and happiness of this trip.
Both Yasco and Yenny have a great sense of color and placement,
and both display a stunning use of expressive brushwork, yet,
each artist has a totally different style, though they are
united by their wish to express inner-feelings. It is in this
idea of ‘synchronicity’, of two artists working
individually and separately to achieve similar goals, which
allows the strength of this exhibition to shine through. Neither
artist over-shadows the other. Their works are complementary
and hang well together. Their approaches to visualizing their
inner-feelings are very different, but their messages are
clear. True happiness, they seem to imply, can only be achieved
through pain and suffering. Not a very uplifting message,
but a valid one none-the-less. ‘Two Women’ is
an exceedingly personal and highly rewarding show.
