Page 15 - Inner Gazing

I WAYAN JANUARIAWAN (DONAL) that continues to be embedded in the cultural memory of Balinese
Between Celebration and The Meaning of Painting people—while geographically the coconut palm is associated with
the tropics, where sunlight is abundant. Some layers of meaning
pertain to the activity and method of Donal’s painting. He consciously
Basic questions about what painting is and the nature of employs a visual language that tends to remain based on aspects
contemporary art with its emphasis on the conceptual and the of beauty that are readily felt to be universal in some circles. “I am
celebration of technological and media developments—especially aware as a painter, therefore I’m aware of using certain aspects and
in regard to international contemporary art compared with the potentialities of painting as a form to convey my statement,” Donal
development of contemporary art in Indonesia, and especially in told this writer.
Bali—moved the artist I Wayan Januariawan (better known as “Donal”) Donal views painting as part of the culture of society. He wants to
to see and re-examine the views of the academic tradition as the present things that might look simple, natural, and beautiful (in the
basis of painting. eyes of ordinary people) in the hope that this will be the entrance for
them to be able to respond to even deeper things, that is, the ideas in
Donal wishes to revive and embody the “tradition” of painting in the each of his paintings.
history of the development of modern art through the method of
painting on the spot. He returns to nature and tries to appreciate and Based on Donal’s view of his creative process as serious and intense,
permeate the phenomenon of form, where aspects of light play a vital painting on the spot with impasto techniques, we can read this as
role in the absorption of objects by the eye and are then transferred to Donal’s effort to celebrate and give meaning to painting as a way
the canvas plane. The choice of objects painted by Donal on the spot of presenting beauty and peace of mind through the elements of
is also an object in the surrounding environment that is familiar in his art—especially colors, which all support light. Donal puts painting as
daily life as a Balinese. Thus, what appears visibly to Donal’s works is mainstream in his creative process. His struggle and his trust in the
the painting of landscapes, trees, or parts of certain plants that are power of painting is an inseparable part of a human being’s sense
painted close-up, or a collection of natural objects. of beauty. In the development of contemporary art, which is so busy
with the tendency of conceptual art and technology-based media to
So is what Donal paints and conveys in his works as simple a process process what is must be believed and done, Donal’s work can be seen
as moving an object from nature to the canvas? In fact it is not a as a kind of antithesis of one of the symptoms in the development
simple matter of seeing the work and understanding the creative of contemporary art. Donal follows the path of art that tries to probe
process. There are layers of meaning that we can follow further. His and reinterpret what is fundamental. From these fundamentals, he
experience in cultural studies after graduating from the ISI Denpasar explores meaning and the power of painting, which he shares with the
painting school also shapes and influences Donal’s perspective in public through his works.
viewing and interpreting his artistic work. This includes the choice of
painting on the spot objects or events that exist in the surrounding
environment and Bali in general. Every region or human that lives in a
certain cultural scope has a different perception in looking at objects.
This is very much influenced by both cultural and geographical
matters. Donal gives as an example the coconut palm. For the people
of Bali, the coconut palm is a very important plant, because the use
of each part of this plant is closely related to the daily life and ritual
culture of the Balinese people. It embodies a philosophical value

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