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Kurnia’s
art, though claimed by the Indonesian art milieu as abstract, infact,
is surrealistic in many of the expression. Each work is narrated, throughout
different stages and periods, giving his personal experiences, illustrated
by the complexity of both the past and present, through feeling, thinking,
and their manifestations onto canvas, using both realistic and imaginary
objects. As he has stated, these aspects correlate to the final execution
of his work. Exploring further, these three images are examples of the
psychic aspect of the artist’s life through Indonesian contemporary
history - images shown here such as Egotera, Mencari
Angka-Angka (looking
for numbers) and Belajar Membaca
Tanda (learning to read the sign), upon which
demand the viewers to read them within the context of Indonesian discourse.
"Egotera"- oil on canvas, conveys a critical autobiography showing a human torso juxtaposed with family documents as a background of his subject. The overall picture is a reference to the discriminatory aspects of Indonesian government policy against Indonesian Chinese. Chinese Indonesians have special documents stating that they are originally Chinese. This is a system, which legislates to differentiate between ethnic Chinese Indonesians and the indigenous Indonesians. Though many Chinese Indonesians were born in Indonesia for centuries, many do not speak Mandarin or Chinese dialects, nor that they have close contacts with China, however, they remain in an exclusion zone. This is precisely what Egotera confronts us with. Egotera expresses the meaning of the tormented mind in finding a place in the society in which the artist was born – Indonesia. "Belajar Membaca Tanda" (learning to read the sign) shows the human’s dilemma of a society facing the continuous political and religious conflicts through the eyes of a young boy, who sits at Buddha’s lap- he is looking at Buddha’ hands in a meditation gesture. Opposite, away from the viewers, a shadow of a weapon pointing at the boy. "Belajar Membaca Tanda " is a statement about the overwhelmingly intolerant world we live in and is a message, which emphasises the early education of good disposition and understanding. As a contrast "Mencari Angka-Angka" (looking for numbers) has an ironical humour attached to it. The picture shows numbered chairs. A creature, presumably a male infant, with small spikes growing in his scull, has his head resting at the edge of the back of the seat. One of his legs is on the seat in front of him, while one arm is reaching to the next seat. Behind him, another creature, seen only by the leg that is about to land on another seat. The image shows the infantile approach of political parties, trying to gain seats in the Indonesian House of Representatives in the recent election in 2004 of the newly democratic government. As shown here, Kurnia’s work blends surrealism with the undercurrent language of romanticism. His ultimate personal demeanour and his art crying for justice touch the very heart. It reminds some of us of a poem by Louis Aragon in "Un Jour" whereas heart yearns desperately for a harmonious world.
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