on Unsung Hero
interview I Wayan Sudarna Putra
from press release Komaneka Fine Art Gallery, Ubud, Bali, December 2010
Seeking A Cure Inside
Since returning home from Yogyakarta a few years ago, I Wayan Sudarna Putra seems to have rediscovered a fragment of his past that for a while had disappeared. At his art studio (or warehouse?) he has again become absorbed in pages from his life. A stone shrine—with a Balinese offering and a glass of plain black coffee—sits in the protective shade of a lush and silent bamboo grove. Red stick remnants and ashes of burned incense can be seen scattered around. A pair of turtle doves lands to try and scratch out a living, seeking out bits of rice from the offerings, and then flutters away, engulfed by the clouds like a trail of incense smoke billowing up towards the clear sky.
My arrival that day had been looked forward to by Nano since morning. A pretty woman (who is his loving wife) appeared bringing for us two cups of sappuccino. Wayan goes by this nickname because he has an odd hobby, sweeping the yard of his studio at every spare moment. At the same time he is absorbed in singing an old‐fashioned song ‘Don’t Feel You Can Do It Alone”. Meanwhile his two children frolic with a cardboard box mask, their other friends play gamelan music the best they can for a children’s barong dance performing around the village during every Galungan holiday.
“Lots of things need to be endured,” he reasons. Coming home, to Bali, keeps him busy with traditions, gives him thousands of questions to ponder over. Resist? Participate? Be honest? Deceive? Be good? Be bad? Leave? Or just paint at home? It’s almost twilight, and we have already finished gulping down the final cups of coffee over a basket full of laughter. “So how is your life nowadays? Have you found the answers to those questions?” While smiling he replies, “It’s like this. At last what is invisible from the outside sometimes has its own essence. Let it be. Clearly it can be nice. Let all of it become perfectly complete as is. This is how things are. No more. No less. All along I’ve only been seeking a cure within. I have to face the good and bad!”
So he finishes. I shake his hand and hurry home. So now Komaneka Fine Art Gallery has the opportunity to become a part of the (long) journey of I Wayan Sudarna Putra in ‘taking an inner journey’ that we certainly feel very proud of. Let’s hope that many lowers bloom along the roadsides.
Yan
