Page 9 - E-Katalog - Nengah Sujena
P. 9
The space of experience is another creative field Sujena mean that the human has been given a status higher
intensively explores. Representation of nature does than nature. Indeed there is no significant difference
not preoccupy him. Rather the dynamic of his physical between the image of nature and the image of the human
and mental experiences of nature is what he struggles in the paintings. There is no information to indicate that
to convey. The lines and the colors in his paintings look the human is superior to nature. The image of nature
vibrating, pulsating. It is as if they coincide with the and the image of the human (or of man-made objects)
flows of the artist’s bodily sensations, lyrical feelings, intertwine rhythmically in the pictorial space, creating
and philosophical meditation of nature. Indeed, the visual harmony. In Sujena’s paintings, the human is central
unity of nature with man is the main theme of Sujena’s precisely because man is identical with nature.
repertoire. This unity reflects the traditional cosmology
of Bali Hinduism in which nature and human are seen as Like the human figures sticking his/her tongue-leaf
essentially identical. As Sujena symbolically depicts in a out in a number of his paintings, Sujena articulates the
number of his paintings, the human is a microcosm which revelation of nature. His paintings reflect the paradigm
contains a macrocosm, that is nature. of Deep Ecology, an ecological awareness that recognizes
the fundamental relation between nature and the human.
Most of Sujena’s paintings show equally anonymous His works subtly criticize the anthropocentric view that
imageries of the natural world and human figures. Nature considers the human as the center of truth with all the
and the human are depicted as units that virtually have privileges to exploit nature. Through his works of art,
no identities, except their most basic characteristics. Sujena conveys a critical, yet poetic, message that living in
Formalistically simplified, human figures in Sujena’s harmony with nature is a soothing, peaceful life.
paintings are not the representations of persons. They
symbolize the human species. The anonymity of the 7
figures echoes the aspiration for universal humanism and
egalitarianism that transcend the sense of identity and
uphold the principles of equality among human beings.
In Sujena’s paintings, human figures tend to be depicted
as occupying the center stage. This, however, does not
