IMAJINASI
Solo exhibition by Roby Dwi Antono
21 April - 30 May 2012
Tirana House - Boutique & Artspace
Jalan Suryodiningratan No 55 Yogyakarta
KINCI’S IMAGINATIONS
One afternoon, a friend of mine, Iwan
Effendy recommended me to see Roby Dwi Antono’s artworks. I was so excited,
feeling like just finding an oasis in the middle of a dessert (art scene). Then
I thought I had found a new idol. He was born in 1990 in Ambarawa, Central
Java. He lives in Yogyakarta and has been working as illustrator and graphic
designer since 2010. Despites his young age, his artworks are really
refreshing. From the very first time we met, I knew he is a down-to-earth
person. He admitted that he started drawing since kindergarten. He never
studied art in art school. He developed his painting skill in Vocational High
School of Engineering. He took class of graphic design. He used pencil first when
he started drawing, then he used color pencil, pastel and poster paint. He also had
tried using paper, canvas and wood. He explored the media during his learning. His
curiosity to use other types of media than pencil always drives him to create
works. At present he is learning to use acrylic applied on canvas. He admitted
that he has not had chance to use oil paint.
His artworks
are influenced by those of world artists like Mark Ryden, Marion Peck,
Nicoletta Ceccoli, Ray Caesar, Jana Brike and Dilka Bear. His family, friends,
daily things including his childhood also have important role in influencing
his works. He said that Mark Ryden is one of his favorite artists. Rayden
is American artist. He is the king of Pop Surrealism movement. For him, the
artist is very amazing, not only because of his fine and beautiful visualization
but also of the mystery enclosed deeply within his works. “Watching his, artworks,
I feel like I am falling into them and able to feel what he paints”, Roby said.
Likewise, when we look at Roby’s works, it feels like we are inside them,
closely feeling their attractiveness, happiness, sadness and even tragedy. It
is like we are entering a dream world. Every mystery is made to make everyone
freely contemplate and draw their own conclusions from what they see.
The theme
“Imagination” has appeared out of Roby’s conversation with a friend about their
childhood dreams. According to him, we cannot limit whatever we will do in the
future, we are never afraid to have dreams. Within an imagination surely lies a
strong ambition to make it come true. Such spirit could be felt in his debut
exhibition. As quoted from Walt Disney - If you can dream it, you can do it.
In accordance
with this headline, Roby would like to share the beauty of children
imaginations so that we will always keep our dreams alive. Because usually as
we gets older and older, our ambition to accomplish our childhood dream collide
with fear of failure. A great idea sometimes comes from impossible imagination.
“So, free you imagination,” Roby advised. He has made some researches with his
friends as the subjects to find out their childhood dreams. He randomly did the
research with friends of the same, younger and much older age. He sort and chose dreams that were considered
interesting and imaginative enough. Then he put them into his artworks, combining them with his own imaginations. So,
here they are 15 new artworks being exhibited now, along with 5 old artworks as references for comparison.
Although his artworks belong to
surrealism, daily realities are of his inspirations in the process of
creations. For this exhibition Roby is presenting artworks of pencil
drawing on paper. According to him, drawing is the mother of the beauty of
visual art. Every attractive works of art comes from a simple drawing/sketch. Concerning
drawing technique with pencil, he prefers shading to blending one. He uses
mechanical pencils because with them he can make small objects in detail. His
reason of using pencil than other instruments is that for him with pencil it is
easier to communicate his ideas. With pencil he also enjoys every stroke and sketch.
An attractive subject on drawing medium can be created with different intensity
of thickness made with pencil strokes. His skill of using acrylic paint can
also be seen in one of the works being exhibited, namely the work titled “Pilu
Lalu”.
If we observe especially his drawing works more
deeply, we can see that he always have empty space in each of his work. He said
that empty space can make his subject get correct focus. Therefore, it is
easier for his audience to understand what he tries to communicate through his
works although in nature surrealism is hard to understand. For him empty space
in an artworks is like air with what the subject of the artworks “breaths”. His reasons above are based on his
experiences and education background with graphic design.
Enjoy the works. Keep imagining and hopefully get
inspired!
Nunuk
Ambarwati
Sources:
Interview via email with Roby Dwi
Antono, 4 April 2012.
http://dgi-indonesia.com/bajigur-10-interview-dengan-robby-dwi-antono-surealis-negeri-kelinci/ (downloaded
on 7 April
2012).
http://nylonindonesia.com/article/read/64757/ARTIST-ROBY-DWI-ANTONO (downloaded
on 7 April
2012).
