Artist's statement

THE COLOR OF LIFE

BY I WAYAN KARJA

My life is in transition. The world situation seems unclear to me, a few human tragedies have happened. I live in both, traditional and modern cultures. I used to live in a small Balinese compound with nearly fifty people: parents, brother, sister, wife, children, cousins, uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews. As a member of a traditional community, I like to travel the world. Wherever I am, I feel in touch with my roots. Maintaining a balance between continuity and change is a major goal in my life; not losing the old to develop the new. I spend my time both with rice farmers and educated people at universities, as well as the villagers and visitors in Bali; both in my home and other home countries. I live in low-tech and high-tech environments. Where do I belong?

In reality, I belong to the world, belong to the spirits of today, I belong to this era. Transition. I feel my self is empty, I am aware of my limitations. Belonging and not belonging anywhere. I am a searcher and an explorer of cultures. Learning "the color of life." I am alone, but I am not. 

I want to do something for the world, I do not know what to do. As a painter and art educator, I do have tools to express my concerns. Through my artwork and my understanding of art theories, I want to share visual languages with others. 

Color is very important to me. I love the color. For me, painting is about color. I enjoy playing with color. I experience and see life through color. Understanding the wide array of colors allowed me to understand life. Mixing and layering colors on canvas has opened a wider horizon in my mind, especially about the differences similarities and the similarities in the differences. The diversity of my roles in life is reflected in the color I choose. I learn life through color. I believe color and me are one. It is hard to imagine life without color. There is color but hard to see. I feel lucky to see life with/through color, not only black and white.

Color is in a position between the physical and spiritual worlds, as a pigment and the soul itself. My previous artwork was about a series of paintings rooted in the Balinese color circle "pangider Bhuwana." Pangider Bhuwana is symbolized by a mandala with eight directions plus the center, each associated with a color, god, attribute, number, place in the body, etc.

Perth, August 1st 2003

Upstairs, 159 Onslow Road, Shenton Park 6008 Western Australia.