Taman (The Garden)
Paintings by Pande Ketut Taman
At Komaneka Fine Art Gallery, Jl. Monkey Forest, Ubud
Tel: 976090
A little knowledge about Pande Ketut Taman’s life experiences provides a fresh and accessible way of exploring and understanding the urgency and content of his paintings. Pande Ketut Taman was born in 1970 in Peliatan, Ubud. He studied from 1992 to 1998, at the Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI) in Yogyakarta. However, after the Bali Biennale 2005, he suffered a nervous breakdown, brought on by the stresses of a high profile career in the art world. Through therapy, including prescription drugs, to stabilize the chemical processes of his brain, followed by an intense period of self-examination, Taman gained insights regarding his thinking processes, the psychology of the self, and the importance of having a dialogue with the self. Fortunately, after suffering for sometime, there emerged an awareness that he had to move on from this nadir point.
Taman’s current home is in the Central Javanese town of Muntilan, and the Candi Borobudur temple can be seen in the distance. Living within the vicinity of Borobudur, has provided Taman with an opportunity to find a path towards self-discovery. Borobudur is historically a Buddhist area, and the Buddha is identified with self-discipline. Taman has stated: “When depression comes, there’s humor in realizing, okay…here you come again, and this is how it feels. It is like a snake shedding its skin. This will pass, and happiness comes afterwards. This is part of my life. My just rewards.” This attitude indicates that a sense of Buddhist teachings have become part of Taman’s consciousness. It is as if Taman knows Vipassana meditation. To be aware of breath, and make mental notes for self-enlightenment.
The massive Borobudur temple can be seen to symbolize the destructive and regenerating powers of the Hindu god Shiva, once a popular deity in Java, and still worshipped in Bali. Some of Taman’s work, such as Finger Pointing at the Moon, shows the Borobudur Buddhist stupa as the tip of a phallic lingga, the symbol of Shiva. Although not typical of classical Hindu-Buddhist art, this reflects the fusion of these religions in Java and Bali, which took place during the tenth century. This faith is followed by Taman, and he also tries to understand Buddhist rituals and values without compromising his own beliefs as a devout Hindu. The elements of Taman’s faith are at the heart of a Balinese religious philosophy known as rwa bhineda, which comprises of complimentary opposites that create a complete cosmos. The equivalent is the Chinese yin-yang, which is interpreted in Taman’s painting, All Are Mine, showing the symbol swirling with figures.
The effects of Taman’s religion have their impact on his artistic concepts. Some of his works, like Consciousness, are based on Borobudur’s geometric mandala structure of an ordered cosmos. Elsewhere in his art figures are painted in gray, and their dense compositions have their parallel in Borobudur’s stone panels, filled with scenes of daily life and religious teachings. For Taman, the figures are reflections of his own self, connected to his ability to accept himself. His art is the personification of himself, using other people as his mirror. They help him value his own shortcomings. “It’s like looking at the self through other people’s eyes.”
Now, after his recovery, it is important to understand Taman’s artistic development in his current works. Smiling faces, such as in the piece Earth a Circle of Smiles, populate a rotating world. In the painting Silent Hole a dark crowd of figures swarm around an opening of light which looks like a cosmic egg, while, in the canvas Shangrilla, a panorama becomes eerily erotic. Faces can fill a mandala, and a mandala can be formed from faces. Do the figures create form or does the form define how figures are arranged? It is actually both, a concept which is central to Buddhism, and the doctrine of cause and effect. By living in the vicinity of Borobudur, Taman has created a contemporary visual form of an ancient, enduring and universal philosophy of life. This exhibition is highly recommended.
To Live is a Great Piece of Art
Paintings by Oktara Bakara
At Adi’s Art Studio & Gallery, Jl. Bisma 102, Ubud Tel: 977104
Oktara Bakara was born in October, 1980, in Curup, Sumatra. He was educated at ISI Yogyakarta, and has lived and worked in Bali since 2007. Oktara believes that, “An artist’s life may be spent partly in a hammock, or at airports in Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Singapore”. But, presently, Oktara resides in a small, dark room in a narrow alley near the Denpasar Art Centre. This makes no difference for Oktara, for he also believes art does not depend on circumstances. Oktara feels that an artist should burn like a candle, from both ends. “An artist should be addicted, because art depends on the inner fire and on the commitment.”
Oktara is one of the rare contemporary artists who allow themselves to focus on their inner realities and their outside ones as well. In works such as My Alladiin Lamp, Choir, and Ergo Vs Ego Oktara uses canvases, paints, brushes, and pencils to express his thoughts and feelings in a sometimes offensive, direct, and strong way. In this sense he is dealing with captivating shapes, lines and colors. Oktara’s paintings can be aggressive, sensitive, witty and extremely thoughtful.
