Shades of Stone in Love with Loka Suara

Estimated reading time: 12 minutes

Shades of Stone in Love with Loka Suara... One afternoon here in Sawidji Loka Suara came by just before the opening of his solo exhibition at Maya Gallery, Maya Resort Sanur Bali. Together with Agus Kama Loedin, Uuk Paramitha, ManButur and I we were drawn into a very interesting discussion about the relationship of love to stone. I read the words ‘Shades of Stone in Love’ on the invitation to the exhibition. We have over eighty articles now we are here to address love. It’s not a topic you can ever be ready for. Yet, it seems like an inevitability.

Immediately, there was an instant of simultaneous images and sensations that flashed through my mind. I saw mountains at the peak, and at its centre, one cool and touched by windy breezes and the other molten and thick and heavy. Small pebbles in the river are carried away by the current and get lost. Rocky cliffs submerged under a world of water never seeing the light of day. All in an instant. It was phenomenal. All from the words ‘Shades of Stone in Love’.

The Meaning of Love

This made me curious to find out what Loka means by letting loose these words ‘Shade of Stone in Love’. I asked him ‘What does it mean for you?’ and his answer brought a chuckle from us. “I like Bob Dylan, his song ‘like a Rolling Stone. After knowing the song I’ve paid more attention to the characteristics of stones. Firstly, It’s hard but it can crumble. I think the hardness and toughness of stones are relateable to love’.

Not Knowing Love

Yet Loka Suara is adamant he does not understand love. ‘Is it not like swimming in an ocean?’ I ask. We can experience the water. It is wet. Some waves throw us around, shifting the horizon as we bob up and down. No living human can ever truly know the true depth of the ocean by walking on the ocean floor. Going by this logic I am convinced it is not just Loka Suara who does not know about love. Quite truthfully, we must all not know about love (apart from the general sense).

We take the work titled ‘Love Trap’ for example, this was inspired by a run-in with a ‘nasi jingo’ seller one night. Firstly she mentions how difficult it is to get gas to cook. Secondly, she went on to say that she was devoted to the political leaders and had hoped to get a bit of love from them. In the form of being able to get gas more conveniently. However, the reality has not changed and she feels no love returned. Her rueful reflections are self-deprecating. She concluded that she had trapped herself in her trap of love.

Throughout this conversation, the expression ‘love is tough, it’s hard. It can affect you in extreme ways,’ came up several times. This is what made Loka recall a particular memory. He was watching a few players play a game of billiards. ‘In billiards, the game plan is clear’ he says ‘There’s a hole for the ball to go into’. Nonetheless, he noticed some good players miss out because they were distracted and not focused. Later learning there was an issue in their love life.

Life’s Loving Anecdotes

When I think back to this conversation I put it together with the feelings and impressions felt in the exhibition room of the Maya Gallery, Maya Resort in Sanur Bali. First in the main foyer and then in the smaller gallery room. The conversation at our round table was sparked by the theme and was full of curiosity and questions. Most noticeably the anthology of works in this exhibition presents the same spirit.

Each canvas piece is a life anecdote. Musings on the role that love plays in life, inspired by a real moment somewhere, felt by someone. We pass from one canvas to the next like an unplanned stroll in the park. Just following the trail and not specific about a destination. Loka Suara ponders on love but does not appear to demand an answer.

As Much About Stone as About Love

I once asked Loka what is the singular most important pursuit in his art. ‘Character‘ he answers. For the artist in Loka Suara, the exploration of character is tantamount to his creative process. In this series, it may be said that he is exploring experiences of love as understood through the character of ‘stone’. Stone is ancient, elemental and in a universal spirituality represents origin. Through micro and macro views, he takes us through both. Love’s ties to our pre-history. Bearing this in mind it is something that Agus Kama Loedin also commented on.

There is one statement from Loka that I remember about Love. it is like stone it is hard but it can be conquered. This is what he said. The way that I see this, reminds me of ancient times, pre-history. How people carve stone to make something. They make this because of love. Love towards their faith, their beliefs. It transports us into this time. Not everyone can master stone, to make it into something incredible. There has to be love there. ^{~ Agus Kama Loedin}

A Dialogue and a Prayer for our Well Being

In Dialogue, Well-Being and Prayer of the Sea we see iconographic stylisations of ancient art and suggestive of ancient scripts. There is a dialogue, a prayer and well-being. Is this coincidental? That these are the three paintings that greet us before we journey into the room full of Life’s confounding moments? Perhaps this is the key to our well-being and survival on our mysterious journey. Love is not simply embodied in our hopes and disappointments. Most importantly it is not simply one type of relationship or another. Perhaps the premise of Shades of Stone in Love is that love is ancient, mysterious and universal. Ingrained in the essence of our life-being.

These questions and layers of different messages are perhaps what writer Gde Hariwangsa Hartanto is drawn to in ‘Shades of Stone in Love’. Finding many points of interest and connections from a literary perspective which he shares with us here about ‘Prayer of the Sea’.

Reflections of Hartanto on ‘Prayer of the Sea’ by Loka Suara

In enjoying the works of artist Nyoman Loka Suara which was exhibited at Maya Sanur Gallery from 30 June to 15 August 2024 – with the title Shades of Stone in Love – I was most interested in his work entitled; Prayer of the Sea. Let me categorize the styling of Loka Suara’s works as Expressionism.

The reason is, according to my observations – Loka’s works this time focus on feelings and inner experiences as a reflection of his intellectual power. Apart from that, the color vocabulary to convey his ideas, he uses bright and contrasting colors to depict intense emotions.

It’s interesting to me, so much so that I categorize Loka’s works this time as expressionist, because he emphasizes the expression of emotion and individual subjectivity, often through distortion and exageration of form, color and composition. You can see this work, which shows a person praying, and two fish, with meanings written in them.

Two Fields of Art

The title ‘Prayer of the Sea’ reminds me of the novel Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway. The same title is a children’s book written by Kadir Nelson. These two books are also interesting to me. All of them are a reflection of life’s struggles.

Loka, seemed to invite me to ‘cross’ two fields of art, literature and fine arts. In visual arts, he reminds me of the famous expressionist artist Edvard Munch, with his painting “The Scream.” Meanwhile, in literature, expressionism influenced writers such as Franz Kafka and German expressionist dramas that depict the human condition in modern society. Happy Loka, happy endless exploration. ^{By Gde Hariwangsa Hartanto}

A Keen Observer

We conclude our sharing of Shades of Stone in Love with a few words from artist and long time friend Uuk Paramitha.

Through my observation, the work exhibited by Loka in Shades of Stone in Love is showing a journey. It is not simply one period of his work. Loka continues to explore many things. Whether it is this what he identifies as ‘character’ or perhaps other themes. You can see clear aspects of the universal spiritual in his works that may come from his Balinese influences. He does not remain in one form. Loka is very observant. That is the main point about his creativity. He has acute observations and pays a great deal of detail to many things. ^{~ Uuk Paramitha}

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