Luh Gede Gita Sangita Yasa
Biography
In English
Vibrant, yet unusual mindscapes depict alternative realities: Luh’De expresses a Gen-Z experience of dwelling in both the digital and natural worlds. As the first generation having grown up with immediate Internet and mobile digital technology access, members of Gen-Z are dubbed “digital natives”. Luh’De’s sensitivity pieces together seemingly unrelated, contrasting imagery into balanced compositions introducing the audience to fresh narrative realms she refers to as “fragments of memories”.
For most people, the concept of existing simultaneously in parallel universes may be too abstract to process. Not for Luh’De. Curiosity infused with ingenuity is harnessed into images of the past, present and future which are unique within the Indonesian contemporary art world. Light years beyond the conventional Balinese painter, Luh’De never references traditional icons, narratives and techniques. Instead, she boldly investigates her potential and intuitive trajectory.
Merging Pop Art, abstract and semi-realism styles often with a minimalist sense of space, blank areas on the canvas create interludes that allow us to pause and think. The outcomes are contemplative and uber-chic. Luh’De is the first Balinese woman artist to establish an identity upon such a compelling aesthetic formula.
“My creative process begins by sourcing images from the Internet, screenshots from the online simulation game The Sims and other images I have collected. I then photoshop combinations into compositions I call ‘happy incidents’,” said Luh’De, who was born in Bali in July 1997 and worked briefly as a graphic designer.
“At university I found myself working best in oil paints. I like that it takes around 8 hours for the paint to dry giving me time to manipulate my compositions into shape. This process helps me understand more about what I’m going through. I’ll connect everything, asking myself why this is here? This is where my instincts draw connections and make assumptions. The results are impossible to preconceive and often without meaning or explanation.”
One of the greatest challenges for Balinese artist’s is to grow and to introduce change. Some settle on a formula which sells and then remain in a comfort zone, yet creatively stagnant. Others lack courage to break free and experiment and over time new horizons become increasingly difficult to achieve. Luh’De is a driven artist, whose work has technically and thematically evolved.
From 2016-2018 she worked developing ideas and arranging different components to uncover a functional formula. During 2019-2020 she explored ‘PARADISO: On Fragments of Times’, a series inspired by beach scenes and people at leisure. “I grew tired of painting figures and beach themes. There was nothing more to dig and it was time to move on,” she told me.
In 2020 Luh’De was diagnosed with depression and bipolar disorder and temporarily stopped painting. “When I began painting again, my old subject matter – the Paradiso Series– no longer represented me. I developed a liking towards sweets to help stabilise my moods, and I spent more time playing Sims as a form of escapism. I created a new ‘ideal’ personal painting reality I called my Sweet and Sour Series,” said Luh’De who was nominated in 2021 as a Finalist UOB Indonesian Painting of the Year – Established Artist Category.
Richard Horstman
NOW BaliIn Balinese
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