Recurring themes #2

Something else I'm preoccupied with, especially in my earlier works: the life of urban workers. Or you can see it as a subset of theme#1 - social change. The main subjects in these paintings are members of the working-class trying to make a living, and even the lower-class "outcasts" struggling to make ends meet amidst the city dump

Survivors
2005
Oil on Canvas

Yellow Troops
1993
Oil on Canvas

The Urban Class
1981
Oil on Canvas

Though most of my paintings carry symbolic meanings with humanitarian themes or themes about the environment in which I live. My paintings are not at all meant as social criticism, because truly the themes I take from the life of the people are in themselves stark facts... The way I paint is determined by what I think is artistic. Whatever I do, it is as if I always have a feeling of moral responsibility towards life such as you find it here in Jakarta... Maybe I hope that, besides the artistic quality and beauty of a specific painting, people will also be drawn into thinking about the fact that all around us there are many problems which need to be faced. 

One of these problems are the low skilled workers we commonly see. While the cosmopolitan upper-middle class enjoy their lives, these people have to struggle just to survive each day. Their side of the story, amidst the consumerist lifestyle we subscribe to, is one that most would choose to ignore. I painted these paintings with an apathetic attitude, similar to the indifference that many people in our society have towards these people. This is perhaps why these painting have earned myself the criticism of being "cold" and "technical". 

I will stress again that I do empathize with the plight of these workers. However, I would like the viewers to interpret these paintings for themselves, and therefore I shouldn't be trying to pass judgement of the situation onto people.  I see myself merely as an artist with the responsibility of conveying these images to the public, images we see but often choose to ignore. I am concerned about the change that is leading to a slow deterioration of these people's lives, and I want the society to also be aware and cautious of these changes.

An excerpt from one of my interviews, relevant to this theme:

"We witness everyday the struggle of the urbanites to survive in Jakarta. These people arrive from villages faraway, live in the slum at the heart of the city, amid grand buildings. Or perhaps they come from the fringes of Jakarta, go early in the morning to work, and come back late at night. Just like boxers, these urbanites have to fight and win the game in order to live. They will be crushed if they are unable to survive. They don't do what they dream of. They must struggle with dirty and harsh jobs, with garbage, used cardboards, used things, pollution.

This fact becomes the trigger and challenge for me. There are many aspects of the city life in Jakarta that are so interesting to be portrayed; but it is the struggle of the urbanites that invariably brings me to paint. Painting these urban people, the beggars, the sweepers, the roadside vendors, the rag pickers, the garbage, and the used cardboards is probably unappealing. The challenge is to make them appealing and 'betraying messages.'"