Indonesian Pulses
Photographs by Meliana Salim and Leon Vrielink
At Swiss-Belhotel, Jl. Kebo Iwa, Taman Mumbul,
Nusa Dua. Tel: 848000
At the Swiss-Belhotel, two young local photographers are showing their works. Meliana Salim is a Chinese- Indonesian who, upon returning from her overseas studies, has fallen in love with Indonesia all over again, while, Leon Vrielink was born in Holland, grew up in France, and now finds his “true being” on Bali.
Born in Surabaya in 1979, Meliana Salim spent most of her adolescent years studying in Singapore, and completed her college education in Toronto, Canada, majoring in fashion marketing. She now resides in Bali, where she is writing and photographing freelance for magazines. Her photographs boarder on pictorialism and can seduce the viewer. The photographs are like auxiliary memories or unfulfilled desires. ‘I have been there, or even, I wish to be there’. The images are well composed and reflect her worship of nature. She creates an overall sense of pictorial harmony, and her photographs highlight the primarily decorative function of photography, and even escapism, so eagerly sought by the urban dweller. As her image ‘Vayeb’ku’ shows, she delights in finding patterns that appear randomly in nature. Meliana hopes to inspire people to seek solace in nature, encourage ocean and nature conservation, and promote scuba-diving in Indonesia.
Now almost 21, Leon Vrielink is the son of well-known local Dutch artist Nico Vrielink. Leon came to Bali with his family 5 years ago. He studied at the Bali International School, and later at the Royal Academy of Art in De Hague, Holland.
His photographs are images of human existence and portray a visual appreciation for ordinary objects, such as clay pots, offerings, bells and the like, from daily Balinese life. The photos are carefully cropped in the interest of composition and have a natural spontaneity and directness.
Photographs of temples have always been of importance to Leon. For him, they accentuate how the balance of reality is kept in Bali, through the language of religion. But, in the photograph ‘Sanctity’, we can see that his choice of people also plays an important role, reaching into the deeper meaning of his subjects. Leon’s images are not decorative, and focus on detail and expression. His style softens colors, and plays with shadow and light, seeking an evident equilibrium.
From My View: “This Is It”
Paintings by Rae Vavra
At YT Art Centre, Jl. Mertanadi No. 11, Seminyak
Tel: 081237532614
Rae Vavra is a mix-media artist, fashion and accessory designer, from Los Angeles, currently living in Bali. Rae has exhibited in places all over the world, like New Zealand, London, Los Angeles, Bandung, and now Seminyak. While residing in Bali, Rae is teaching art and yoga. Her exhibition, From My View: “This Is It”, is an expression of Rae’s personal experiences while living in Bali.
“This is an inner journey and personal transformation of my life in Bali. These pieces are really just an inner expression of my time doing a lot of meditation and self-transformation. These interactions relate to the indigenous people and the expatriate lifestyle. There is a constant evolution between these dual objectives”.
In works such as ‘Crossing Path with Buddha’, ‘Hindu Wedding’ and ‘Spiritual Bali’, Rae uses a combination of collage effects, bright and vibrant colors and brushstrokes, and an intense and intriguing patterning, to try and decipher what the fascination of Bali means to her. Rae would not be the first person to declare that: “Bali is a wonderful and mystical place, but, honestly, remains a mystery to me”. Hopefully, these paintings will go a long way in solving that mystery for her, and will offer many of her viewers a source of deep spiritual inspiration and guidance.
Who am I?
Paintings by Em Sumba
At Adi’s Art Studio & Gallery, Jl. Bisma 102, Ubud
Tel: 977104
Em Sumba was born in 1973 in Lampung. He moved to Jakarta in 1994, where he worked for a Japanese animation studio until 1999. While working in this studio he developed his own painting technique. He began painting photo-realistically, then, went through a long process making black and white sketches to find his own style.
For Sumba, the act of painting is a journey of the soul, based on his life experiences. That is why he makes many sketches, a form of picture-writing which is capable of expressing his thoughts or noting his observations. These sketches act as the data base for new paintings, and, he continues to work on them, and allows himself many changes, until he accepts them as the basis for his works.
Many of Sumba’s paintings are humorous, some are personal, and others violent. The shapes of the objects he shows may often be distorted, and the subject he chooses depends on what he feels at the time when he starts a new work. It could be symbols, animals, or the human situation in general. As the paintings ‘Long Sleep’, ‘Playboy Award’ and ‘Swastika’ show, Sumba’s themes can derive from a wide variety of sources, which can included references to western art history, ideas from popular culture, and inspiration from traditional Indonesian mythology.
As the images in Sumba’s paintings depend on his personal situation at the time, his art has the character of a witty, personal, and intimate diary in which he records fragments of his own life, and attempts to make sense of his life and environment.
