CAPTURING THE IMPRESSION, SEEKING THE DEPTH
A Note by Suwarno Wisetrotomo
When I met Alan Aaronson, a number of questions popped up in my head; Who is he? A tourist, an adventurer, or an artist? He is easy to meet in various art events in Yogyakarta, in addition, everyday he is active in the campus of Faculty of Art lnstitut Seni Indonesia (ISI) Yogyakarta.
Alan, as he was greeted by his friends in Yogya, was born in Manchester. England and began to build a career in the creative industry as a visual merchandiser, also in the fashion and design industry. He settled and worked in Miami, Florida, United States, until he finally became a citizen.
In 2001 Alan decided to challenge himself by getting out of his comfort zone in the direction of his journey to South East Asia. He set foot in Bali, Indonesia, after having previously lived in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. In 2006 Alan decided to go to Yogyakarta, intending to learn Bahasa Indonesia. In 2011, Alan Aaronson enrolled as a student of the Department of Fine Arts, Faculty of Visual Arts, ISi Yogyakarta.
Looking at the history of his journey, it can be said that Alan Aaronson is an adventurer as well as a recorder (especially through the language of visual arts), with an impressive spirit. Alan must have found many challenges and experiences. The interaction with many people and art communities in various public spaces in Yogyakarta, as well as his position as a student at the Faculty of Art ISI Yogyakarta, provides an important experience in this phase of his life.
Alan’s life experience and professional experience are another asset in his career as an artist. His professional work in the world of creative, fashion, and design industry, has shaped the character of discipline in exploring creative ideas. While his interaction experience with people provided the sensitivity to various problems at hand. One thing that we can immediately feel is that Alan Aaronson decided to choose to be a free man through the path of fine arts.
BETWEEN IMPRESSION AND DEPTH
By observing Alan’s works, I captured two intriguing intentions, between ‘impression’ and ‘depth’. Impression means memories, perceptions, or responses. Anything/ any events that impress memories, create perceptions, and encourage a response. Depth means intensity, strength, or sharpness in observing or responding to something memorable.
Some of the works indicate the impression of a tourist’s fascination – that is to assume that Alan was in a tourist phase – which was marked by sketches, some paintings that recorded the corners of the city, and the various activities of its inhabitants, at a glimpse. Understandably, Alan relied on visual impressions, and then chose a certain point of view, as an effort to maintain memory of a sense of awe. In his work for example, the corner of the city Yogyakarta, the corner of Benteng Kraton Yogyakarta, with the classical blazing street lights, is poured with a bluish color. In another work, it was shown in the light of the afternoon, when en someone was pedalling his becak, as a ‘beautiful’ event, not as a humanitarian event. Then a piece of city panorama with yellow light, a bluish atmosphere, successfully expressed on canvas with a poetic atmosphere.
A variety of works that shows depth is marked with two paintings of a woman performing prayers; the first is a close up face of a female in prayer attire (mukena). the second is a long-range view of a woman with the same activity (perhaps the same woman?), in a dimly lit room (mosque?). The atmosphere of silence and solitude is well caught. It offers a deep sense of charm. I suspect, Alan was touched so emotionally with the women’s prayer events.
The other work entitled “Rice Field” is a panoramic view which has deep feelings. The painting records three peasants in a pose of planting rice. In the background there is a row of hills, a house, and a blue sky, then in the foreground a person in a gesture of waiting all three people who are still busy. The entire landscape is composed of blue and thin green. The landscape is quiet, with a simple scene of a working situation.
Apparently the story of human activity for Alan received special attention. He seeks to capture the spirit of hard work, as in the painting “Going Home #2”, capturing a becak driver from behind, which is presented merely in the impression of form, far from the details, but touching. The experience of witnessing ‘work’ and ‘hard work’ activities seem to occupy a special space in his heart and memory, to be remembered by a painting.
The depth of his feelings, in my point of view, is also contained in the ornamental works, which he gives the expression theme. I saw it as a post-enthralled work as a result of Alan’s experiences witnessing events from closer distance. His tourist traits have shifted into a figure or someone involved in everyday life. He is getting closer with the various layers of the problems around him. The works he describes as expressions seem to be an attempt to conceal the reality he sees, then replace them by manifesting what he feels through forms and composition. Therefore, the works of the expression become more colourful with bright colours, shapes, and ornamentation, which is likely to be deformed. It was felt that Alan’s free attitude shaped and composed all the visual elements. Freedom and flexibility become the way of managing feelings and depth in response to problems. For Alan, the creative process of painting is driven by the spirit of absorbing. seeking depth, as well as liberating it.
Not only painting. Alan also makes sculpture and graphic works, primarily silk screen and wood cut printing techniques. His quest for the possibilities and exploration of the medium through the graphic art is interesting and I consider successful. This technique makes it possible to capture the people close to him, people he knows, or inspiring figures.
Watching Alan Aaronson’s exhibition is an experience of listening to one’s travel experience that exerts the sharpness of the gaze, memory, sensitivity of feelings, and the effort to voice what is memorable and about the depth in response to each event. We can learn to measure and confirm our own experiences; how far, wide, and how deep our seeing experience will affect the creative process of our art.
Suwarno Wisetrotomo
Lecturer, Curator, Art Critic · Teaching at the Faculty of Arts and Graduate ISI Yogyakarta · Curator of National Gallery of Indonesia