Paintings by I Made Sumadiyasa
at Ganesha Gallery, Four Seasons Resort,
Jimbaran Bay. Tel: 701010.
Coming from Tabanan, Bali, I Made Sumadiyasa exploded onto the Indonesian art scene after graduating in 1997 from the ISI, Indonesia’s prestigious Academy of the Arts in Yogyakarta. Made quickly established himself as one of the leaders of a dynamic new generation of abstract artists. Made has also participated in numerous national and international solo and group exhibitions, including his very successful 2005 show ‘Sunrise’ at the Ganesha Gallery. Hailed as one of Indonesia’s most talented abstract artists, I Made Sumadiyasa’s new series of paintings, at the same gallery, is entitled ‘Songs of the Rainbow’. These are ‘landscapes’, with a subtle story to tell.
Within the paintings of the ‘Songs of the Rainbow’ series the viewer is often delighted by impressive spectral flashes of light and shadow. These vibrant paintings pay homage to one of Nature’s most inspirational phenomenon, the mystery of the Rainbow! However, it should be stressed that Made’s images are not some Judy Garland-like ‘Over the Rainbow’ techno-colored fantasy. There are no smiling and dancing ‘Munchkins’ cavorting around the rainbow’s end, or cunning little leprechauns burying pots of gold. Rather, Made’s paintings are scratchy and moody, and they remind us that a rainbow is born of dark clouds and rain. While displaying luminous beauty and passion, these not so pretty pictures can be viewed as a portrait and psychological examination of this talented young Balinese artist, who is seeking to manifest his identity in the confusion of a turbulent world.
At this stage I would like to make a rather brazen gesture, and compare Made Sumadiyasa’s work to that of the great English Romantic painter William Turner (1775-1851). Turner flaunted the Western Art tradition of realistic visual depiction of land and seascapes in order to reach for a deeper emotional response, which all foretold the birth of Abstract Art. Turner’s later paintings are all blurred, with whirls of seeping colors, symbolic of the turbulent political times which were whirling around him. In the art of William Turner nature was used as a metaphor to reflect and express man’s deep emotions and desires. Similarly, Made Sumadiyasa paintings go beyond the external appearance of nature. He attacks his canvases with the complete repertoire of painting techniques available to an abstract artist. The paintings abound with splashes, broad expressive brushstrokes, which are reminiscent of Jackson Pollack, and with intense sensitive scratches. Not only do these gestural markings represent the forces of nature, but, they also represent the chaotic world within which Made currently finds himself immersed, and, in which, he is desperately trying to understand and depict.
The ‘Songs of the Rainbow’ painting series takes the viewer on a journey through the forces of nature that are unleashed to create a rainbow. Cleverly, Made aligns himself with the long established Romantic genre of using the sublime power and overwhelming strength of natural phenomena, the full cycle of a storm, as a metaphor to represent his own personal life journey. His struggles, his emotions and feelings, and a sense of hope as he leaves the storm to calmer conditions and heads towards the sunlight, and eventually a rainbow, are beautifully narrated. The exhibition opens with the large canvas ‘Awakening Energy’. Here the changes of air temperature, the distant rumblings of thunder, and the eerie stillness preceding a storm, can all be felt gathering on the horizon. Like a barometer, Made carefully forecasts the ‘awakening’ of a spectacular tempest, and, at the same time suggests the ‘awakening’ of his own personal conflict. The predominately black and white painting ‘Blowing Breeze’ brings the first indications of the approaching storm closer to us, while, yet again, the painting’s sweeping black brushstrokes and voluminous white forms indicate Made’s mounting tensions. The full apocalyptical and emotional impact of the downpour hits us in the canvas ‘Passing Storm’, while ‘Serenity’ restores calm and tranquility not only to the landscape but also to the viewer. This inventive narrative, which Made has created, beautifully captures the temperaments and characteristics of a natural phenomenon, but, to understand its deeper psychological implications to the artist we must look at further paintings.
Innate, within all Balinese artists, there is always a sense of an inner struggle aided by determined surety to understand and comprehend the awe of the natural and supernatural worlds. Within the works ‘Song of the Rainbow 1, 2 and 3’ Made studies this phenomenon, and successfully suggests the ghosts, gods or spiritual presences which are at play within the world in all its forms. Yet, it is also tempting to not only read these works as depictions of the acts of Balinese deities, but, to also interpret them as a premonition of some future nuclear holocaust. Whether or not this apocalyptic episode is to be seen as symbolic of Made’s inner turmoil and artistic struggle, or as his prediction of an actual forthcoming incident, is left to the viewer to decide.
I Made Sumadiyasa has created an evocative series of ‘landscape’ paintings which visually capture and represent both his inner and outer worlds. A vision which is entirely his own. The exhibition is highly recommended.
