D’Peak Art Space Singapore is pleased to present The Bridges of Nature – A Solo Exhibition by I Nyoman Sujana Kenyem. Curated by Mr. Eddy Soetriyono (Chief Editor of C-Arts), this exhibition presents the continuous narration on the forces of nature and the artist’s reality.
The application of I Nyoman Sujana Kenyem’s usual motifs: the sea of leaves, the circulation of bamboos, and the heavy droplets of flower, within the background of mountains, hills, terrains, and open spaces, and within the pouring rays of light, the beams of the moon, dancing men – all in the delights of movements, perspectives, sensuous rhythm and vibrant colors. Interestingly, while we become aware of the life and dynamism in Kenyem’s paintings, our recognitions and emotions to these narratives seek us to question otherwise about the beauty they translate against the reality. Let us not for a moment conceive that the language of one is interchangeable with that of the other as we attempt to study the thoughts of the artist’s through his paintings, and that Kenyem’s narratives here denote none other a strong duality. Are we not at the end of the day, finding ourselves in an escapade, into a world of untampered nature, against the reality out there? While Kenyem’s paintings suggest an emotional journey of questioning the role of Man, that while he is part of nature, we have to be reminded of that ‘bridge’ which Man has to connect spiritually to nature, should never be ignored. For Man is at the end of all, their notions of reality.
About the Artist – I Nyoman Sujana Kenyem:
“To be a modern or contemporary artist in Indonesia means to be well-endowed with traditional, westernized art. It has always been that way. But to me, this isn’t westernization. I found that the most important and profund essence which I acquired from understanding westernized art is the essence of freedom. Meaning: freedom to be westernized; or not.” That is the contribution of Nyoman Sujana Kenyem, an artist from Sayan, Ubud, Bali, who graduated from Sekolah Tinggi Seni Indonesia, Denpasar, and who during his youth, has participated in The Young Artsit in Panestanan, a group that was established by Arie Smit, a Dutch-born artist that has since stay rooted in Bali since 1956.
Besides practicing traditional western techniques, Kenyem has, since young, been intruged by the union of traditional Balinese visual art, that has a tendency to navigate towards rich palette of colours, and never let go of everyday, living context, that bears a lot of ritual ceremonies – an enriched tradition that is still valued today, “With the creative expression of freedom from Western art, and being a Balinese native; I am also a representation of a citizen of this one earth. Because of this, I need international interactions. I do not want to be stopped. I want to be a human that continues to flow onwards, as to how the nature flows with wisdom,” Kenyem mentions further, in his studio that always reflect leaves and twigs from a many trees, with bamboo shoots all around.
Staying in Ubud, a “modern city” that host the bloom of Balinese art, Kenyem is anative to the mountains- a terrains that fields many greenery that transcend onto wealth of gold, variey of big trees with lushful leaves, thick, densely forests, of amass floras, all this unite in him everyday ritual, that epitomizes a Balinese’s daily life.That is what Kenyem holds true, and that is his truthful expression in his canvasses and installations, be it as a theme, motif, melody, colour, or even atmospehere that awakens.
