Ketut Budiana – Art From the Heart of Bali

Ketut Budiana- Art From the Heart of Bali. Joo Peter’s first visit in the year 2019

I was in awe of the beauty and depth of his work when I first visited Ketut Budiana in the year 2019. Back then, he still had his studio in his family compound in the centre of Ubud (now he has a studio retreat in a secret place in the rice fields). The studio with grey walls was small and spacious at the same time, with a calm and focused atmosphere. Back then, I did not know yet how his work encompasses so many fields of art, including carving sacred masks and designing sacred architecture. I did not know yet how influential he was to Balinese art.

From Gusti Lempad to Herman Hesse

Ketut Budiana, born in 1950 in Ubud, was teaching generations of young artists in Bali’s main institutions. It reminds me of the influence of Lempad on Bali art, the artist who reached the age of 118 years (1862 to 1978). There are some striking and specific common features of both artists, while their painting styles are so different. First, there is a deep, warm-hearted, empathic humour. I remember a key moment at the end of the novel Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse when the main character in a kind of trance encounters the spirit of Mozart, and Mozart is laughing as an echo of universal enlightenment.

Both Ketut Budiana and Lempad share this warm-hearted and humorous smile, the ability to communicate without words. The second feature in common by both artists is a surreal vision, which allows them to explore Bali’s spiritual world and, at the same time, transcend the limits of traditional iconography with inspired creative freedom. Surreal visions enhance their senses of the spiritual world. It seems that Lempad was opening this door for artists after him, and I Ketut Budiana is the most refined artist to pass it on to new artist generations. Even young contemporary artists like Kuncir Sathya Viku are deeply connected to this unique, innovative, surreal heritage.

Early Influences

Lempad’s style was linear artwork rooted in century-old Balinese tradition, sometimes, the proportions of his figures are slim and overstretched, like in Javanese shadow theatre. Ketut Budiana, on the other hand, picks up the linear style in some of his graphic work on paper but develops a completely different and new style on canvas with complex layers of colours. Figurative elements are embedded in abstract energy fields full of emotion, depth of colour, movement and transition. Clarified, powerful holistic compositions might be partly influenced by his friend and teacher Rudolf Bonnet (1895 – 1978).

In 1969, at the age of 19, Budiana began studying art in Denpasar. At that time, life was still very traditional; there was no electricity on the island until the mid-seventies and the first telephone was installed in 1985. Not far from his home was Lempad, who was already 88 years old when Budiana was born. When Budiana was 25 years old, Rudolf Bonnet became his mentor for two years (1975-77).

Sekala and Niskala

Sekala and Niskala, the visible and the invisible world – Budiana’s art is a journey into the Balinese cosmos of belief, mythology and spirituality with interwoven cultural roots. Creative dualism: light and darkness are always part of our lives, the dynamic movement of our karma, as Budiana explains in “Whirling”, the title of a catalogue of some of his major works, which was published recently when I was visiting him in 2019.

“Heading Towards Release” is the title of the painting above in the Arma Museum. Based on the Mahabharata epic, it depicts the final moment when, after all his struggles and challenges, the hero Pandava is marching towards heaven – with one last obstacle to overcome. The guardians of heaven welcome him, but not his dog. “I will not enter without my dog,” the hero replies – proving his pure heart by being willing to go to hell for his dog.

Below is an excerpt from a larger painting he has just completed in his studio, celebrating the meeting of Balinese and Chinese cultures in a dynamic relationship. The good spirit Barong (partly of Chinese dragon origin) and the witch Rangda meet in different manifestations.

A Multi Disciplinary Artist

Budiana has also been a mask maker (topeng), a sculptor of sarcophagi for cremation ceremonies (bull, lion, etc.), architecture and artwork for temples – involved in a lot of community work. He also has a passion for teaching.

For the Love of the Forest

Since his childhood, he has loved the Monkey Forest deeply, he told me. Many of the sculptures in the Monkey Forest were made by him. He always enjoyed visiting the Monkey Forest, connecting with nature there and creating sculptures inspired by the spirits of the place.

I have been visiting Bali for many years and have always been touched by the sculptures in the Monkey Forest, long before I knew who made them. The sculptures are perfectly in tune with the place where the sacred temple and wild animals meet, very specific, also full of humour and joie de vivre.

The Influence of I Gusti Lempad

Budiana also works in a linear style, like I Gusti Lempad.

It seems the powerful characters and spirits of his artwork themselves call for an extension of the means of expression, and the linear graphics morph and transition into the abstract movement of energy.

…ranging to abstract techniques…

….combining it all….

Budiana likes to paint at night, he told me. Outside life calms down, a meditative atmosphere. Closer to a dream world, it seems.

His grey-walled studio keeps out the harsh sunlight. It’s quiet and peaceful, like a retreat, modest, no bigger than necessary. You can sense the atmosphere of very focused and disciplined work, but also the deep connection to family life in the compound outside – traditional Balinese architecture at its best, garden-like and rich in art, full of life with his children and grandchildren.

Budiana told me about his four children and twelve grandchildren, even some great-grandchildren. When I visited him in his old studio 2019 he was 69 years old and looked young like in early fifties. He told me he practices yoga to keep fit – and he enjoys life.

Thanks for the inspiration, Budiana!

_{Ketut Budiana Art From the Herat of Bali Text and photos by Joo Peter, June 2019 / re-edited April 2024}