Selfies From the Creature Within

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

Selfies From the Creatures Within looks at the work of Made Kaek exhibited in the Culmination Visual Art Exhibition at Santrian Art Gallery. A group exhibition that threads together works by artists specifically with a message for the community. ‘Culmination’ is defined in the exhibition’s framework as a ‘united peak of positivity and harmony’. One that we strive for despite the large element of disciplinary contrasts and chance throughout the curatorial process.

The preference for collaboration is not always an easy demand to meet for many artists. In this challenge of Culmination, Made Kaek, despite working primarily independently has opened up many areas of collaborative process. The concept of ‘Selfie‘ is something as a result of this desire to share a line of thinking very much related to the community that has been in the mind of the artist for some time. Through discussions and shared experiences, Made Kaek, sitting down on the terrace will often talk about his concerns about social media. Thinking of his children and the challenges that face their generation that we were blessed to be without.

Hidden Dangers of Technological Advancement

Every generation has a mountain to climb. Perhaps it appears that this generation is a climbing mountain with too much ease. With all the aid of technology and modernisation. But here we start to dig deeper and see behind the appearance of ease lies true dangers. Changing fundamental behaviours in human psychology that we have not seen in our lifetimes. This impact of technological fusion into our everyday senses. There is an intangibility to it one that is hard to articulate but when treated with too much nonchalance, it is a seed that grows into a different kind of illness. One centred in the realm of mental health, psychological and overall emotional wellness of us as human beings.

An Unnatural Evolution. Survival in a Digital World

Any living creature taken out of its natural ecosystem struggles to survive. Having to find alternative systems to support the primary needs to survive. Yet we are living in a time when this alternative system overpowers all natural senses. Slowly chipping away at our need to utilise our natural abilities and strengths. Technology has made our senses weaker and no longer requires us to practice our physical, mental and spiritual ‘muscles’. This survival in unnatural displacement from a natural ecosystem is a new reality. Honoured by wreaths of ‘progress’ and ‘success’ by the social contemporary lens.

Digital Mirrors. Virtual Platforms Redefining Social Behaviors

The constant upkeep and sense of existence in the ‘virtual dimension’ is not so subtly shaping the very way we shape our identities. Self-perception is no longer through introspection and awareness but through fabricated images requiring no authenticity but rather the validation of an increasing amount of strangers. One example of a seemingly harmless behavioural change brought about by this virtual ecosystem of our social media is that of the ‘selfie‘.

The Selfie Series by Made Kaek brought Mindfulness Practitioner Eda Ocak to express similar concerns about the impact of social media on changing social behaviours and the shaping of identities.

Selfie Culture. Finding Balance in Self-Construction

Self is a tricky thing. Too much and too little are both harmful. When we build a self at an early age, we need others to see us, to hear us, to reflect us. The important step in building a healthy self is that these “others” are our closest environment where we feel safe. Today, in the self-construction process of children and young people, this close environment is replaced by “strangers” on social media. While building a self through selfies, it is not easy not to turn to one of the two dangerous extremes.

When my selfie gets a lot of likes, I am filled with too much self, and when my selfie gets too few likes, I see myself as a worthless self. Whether I am a young person browsing social media or an artist who wants to make their work visible, being mindful is an inevitable necessity in order not to be swung to either extreme in this selfie culture. Too much self or too little self is the reason for the suffering and both sides are signs of taking yourself too seriously, especially in this crazy selfie culture.

Eda Ocak

Selfies From the Creature Within

This is such a complex situation with a wide field of issues bearing fruit since the scattering of the virtual seeds. Made Kaek, for some months thought long and hard about how he may bring his concerns into a body of work through a process that for him as an artist is primarily intuitive and private. His concerns stem from the wide gap in behaviours amongst younger generations today that are increasingly disjointed from tangible socialisations. This conundrum appears to have met its answer and culminate in the ‘selfie’.

The Evolution of Made Kaek’s Creatures

Selfies From Within takes a look at the journey of Made Kaek’s art. At each point of its evolution, Kaek is an artist whose art is born out of the strength to ‘BE’ despite overwhelming contradictions. He is born as an art brut artist in arid conditions. Destined to be a lawyer, he fought against the predetermination and nursed a reality needed by his creative nature. Being a self-taught artist, his art and stylistic expression are fed by inspiring mentors throughout his journey, but primarily found in the private dimension of his mind, his world, a strong bridge made between his subconscious and that of his canvas. Thoughts morph, emotions, and spirit, going through chapters of intuitive styles from abstract to imaginative figurative, to hybrid forms of all that is merged in Kaek’s subconscious world and what he has come to be known for… Kaek’s Creatures.

These creatures may be called an amalgamation of his consciousness with all the layers of cultural, social, imaginary, theoretical and spiritual handprints of his experience. This consciousness is quite private. He does not ever clearly talk about them. Letting you decide what you will make of them. I take you through this elaborate reflection of his creatures because this is how we can appreciate the true difference in Kaek’s Selfie Series today. And how open Made Kaek has been throughout this process of Culmination.

In Manus, a Conscious Journey, Kaek’s Creatures leave their two-dimensional world and join together in a ‘First Supper’ in Sudakara Art Space. Also through a collaborative process, they evolved, the firstborn of the ‘Kala Api’ Series becoming tangible and united in a social gathering. The artists comment on the evolution of human primitive instincts meeting the uncompromising necessity of social interaction, structure and order to evolve as what is truly the highest potential of human beings.

In the past Made Kaek’s renowned Creatures have only played at being human, suggestive and uncommitted. Wearing a tie, or adorning shoes with their hybrid forms. Here, undisputed, with a singular statement Selfie, they claim the human stage. And why? perhaps they need self-affirmation toward existence the same way humans do. Without a selfie, they may not exist.

In answer to their request, I leave you with the impressions of Justine Buvelot, one amongst many who stood before the Selfie Series and pondered on their faces.

Made Kaek’s “Selfies” series captivates me for its striking portrayal of abstract faces, each imbued with a unique, almost monstrous essence. The diversity of colours and expressions across the fifty small paintings on the wall creates a mesmerizing visual symphony. What draws me in is the artist’s ability to evoke raw emotion and introspection through these mysterious faces, inviting viewers to contemplate the complexities of identity and self-perception. Looking at them, I feel like the artist wants us to think about who we are and how we see ourselves. It’s cool how the paintings resemble self-portraits, but they’re not like regular selfies at all. What adds to the enjoyment is the fun of choosing which one you identify with!

Justine Buvelot _{^{Social Media Manager, Nyaman Gallery}}

Whether Kaek’s Creatures have garnered the approval of a virtual audience of an anonymous nature I cannot say. However, in the ‘real’ most tangible sense of the word, we have witnessed that through Selfies, the Creatures from within Made Kaek have made a giant leap unveiling themselves in going public in their audacious play for human validation.

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