Artist : S. Teddy D.
Curator : Jim Supangkat
Artwork: Painting & installation
Venue : Kendra Gallery
Date : 28 December 2011
Time : 18.30 wita
The solo exhibition of S. Teddy D. at Kendra Gallery in Denpasar, Bali in December 2011 demonstrates the underlying concept of his artistic process. Although they stem from reality – everyday life events – the expressions in S. Teddy D.'s works are not immediately identifiable as representation, in the commonly understood sense.
S. Teddy D. never looks at the problems of reality that he faces as phenomena to then be explored through rational thinking.
The reality that appears through his expressions is a disturbing reality.
In fact, he has the consciousness to recognize reality, even to think about it – for example, to figure a way out of an urgent reality.
Yet he feels he is never able to arrive at a solution, because the thoughts in his mind grow out of control.
S. Teddy D. tells about the realization that he once had, when he was visually hallucinating after confronting a harsh reality.
He saw the hair on his head stand on end, and then, keep on growing and growing until it became a kind of wilderness. Here, he found an endless space. He entered this space and found a different reality.
Based on this experience, Teddy believes that there is not merely one reality: there is also a metaphysical reality, and he lives in both physical reality as well as metaphysical reality. This awareness makes Teddy's visual hallucinations different from the visual hallucinations of a schizophrenic.
Gradually, he became more familiar with the visual hallucinations that often appeared to him. It was this familiarization that prompted him to turn the hallucinations into sources of expression. Due to this tendency his works can be said to be born of a mindscape.
That mindscape is a space that contains all of S. Teddy D.’s beliefs – his understanding of reality and metaphysical phenomena, his convictions about balance and fairness, goodness, ideals and the power of God. So, the mindscape has the potential to bring out intentional representations – whose readings can be expanded into conclusions upon reflection.
S. Teddy D. is a visual artist who has lived in an underground world. Since childhood, he has known violence, and repeatedly faced a struggle for life at risk of death. In his life in the world, there was no solid ground, because alcohol and narcotics were an everyday occurrence. In this kind of life he had near-death experiences several times. But he felt he could escape and seemed to come to life again.
His story of encountering that experience beyond life showed him there was a goodness in his self, which eventually let him only stop over in the underground world. Maybe that goodness came from something he adapted from his mother, a religious wise woman. It may also be genetic.
Jim Supangkat / Curator
For more information please contact:
kusuma@kendragallery.com
+62 361 736 628
www.kendragallery.com
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