A Singaporean art gallery will host a collection of art pieces from a visual artist from Bali. The collection will be available through the middle of April, and includes multimedia works that detail the artist’s journey. Since the artist has since moved from his hometown in Bali, he has only memories of growing up there. He takes these memories, which include experiences and conversations with loved ones, as well as actually recollections of the physical location and attributes of the town. The artist also brings in his personal experiences of practicing Hinduism into his art pieces, translating into highly ritualized and traditional details in his paintings.
In one piece that will be part of the exhibit, the artist uses acrylic paint and ink on canvas to depict a simple face in the middle of a tumult of lines and details. The line drawings behind the darker, bolder face are open to a number of interpretations. Some shadings take on the appearance of combed pebbles or sand in meditation gardens, while others look like scars or scorekeeping. The fact that the piece is rendered mostly in grays and blacks highlights the idea of murky memory.
In another piece, the central image that slowly comes into focus is a blossoming flower in a pot. Neutral, pastel colors in peach, green, and purple serve as the primary backdrop for a series of circles and squares around the canvas. The effect is one that leaves the entire work richly textured and deeply dimensional. The viewer is at risk of falling into this soft world of memory.
Another painting has warmer neutral tones, the most dominant of which is a pastel, earthy pink. In the center of the canvas, a pinkish-white tree grows. The tree is rendered in almost a childish depiction, but the commentary is clear — many of our memories from childhood are so fuzzy that these kinds of basic depictions are often what we must accept. The viewer must wonder what kind of fruit grows on this tree, as well as what kinds of memories inspired its inclusion here.
Another gorgeous pastel painting depicts a return to the artist’s hometown. Trees, mountains, and a bright but demur collection of people are depicted. It is clear, here, that the viewers are experiencing this town through the veils of memory. Perhaps the details aren’t exact, but the feeling — warmth, beauty, comfort — come through loud and clear.
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To learn more about the artist, as well as to see a slideshow of some of the masterpieces that will be on display at the exhibit, go to http://sea.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/2875627/landscape-of-memories-at-art-porters-singapore.