I haven’t painted any batik pieces or any other paintings for the past four years, despite doing many interesting sketches. I’m overdue for some inspiration, but as an artist, it takes time for ideas to come to life.
The last batik painting I did was commissioned by a wealthy housewife. It depicted her as a young woman dressed in a traditional Iban ‘kain,’ fetching water from a river using two ‘labu’ containers made from dried gourd rinds. The painting now adds vibrancy and exoticism to her flashy bungalow, which is located across from a new shopping mall in the city.
Between 1997 and 2002, while I was in the Brunei Sultanate, I created numerous pieces in Kuala Belait and Bandar Seri Begawan. I sold over 20 pieces during APEC 2000. These artworks, along with the ones sold during my 1974 one-man show in Sibu, are now held by collectors in various countries, including the UK, US, Canada, New Zealand, India, the Philippines, South Korea, Australia, Brunei, and Malaysia.
During the 1970s, especially while studying at the Fine Arts Faculty at Universiti Sains Malaysia, painting was a passionate and obsessive pursuit for me. I mainly worked with canvas, emulsion paint, and oil. Many of my early paintings were influenced by Post-Impressionism and Surrealism. Later, Conceptualism and to some extent, Futurism took centre stage in my work, thanks to my sculpture lecturer, the late Prof Redza Piyadasa, who was a pioneer of Conceptualism in Malaysia. Surrealist artist Salvador Dali had a significant influence on me, particularly his works with emulsion paint. His paintings, such as “The Burning Giraffe” (1937), “La Pesca del Atun” (1966), and “The Galatea of the Spheres” (1952), resonated with my struggles at the time. Dali’s piece “The Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee” from 1944 is also noteworthy, as is his controversial work “Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War)” from 1936. Dali’s art made him both a surrealist and a futurist in the art world. During my active painting years, Dali was in the twilight of his life, in his early 70s.
Dali’s paintings, however, didn’t have a significant impact on my batik pieces. When I create batik art, I focus more on realistic effects and how viewers will interpret them. I emphasize the appeal to buyers and collectors who prefer realism over abstraction.
After experimenting with canvas, oil, and emulsion, I had to make adjustments and explore expressionistic modes, surrealism, and realistic depictions in the 1990s. Viewers showed a clear preference for realism over abstract expressionism.
Some people may wonder what batik is. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, batik is a colouring method where wax is used to enclose specific areas so that other colours cannot penetrate. It is mainly applied to cotton fabric using primary colours like blue, yellow, and red. When these primary colours mix, they create secondary colours like green, brown, purple, and others. I prefer using just the primary colours along with black and white for a vibrant effect.
Traditional batik designers see batik as a fabric on which coloured patterns are created. The process starts with plain white cloth, to which wax is applied to create patterns that remain white until the end. The cloth is then dipped in colour or drawn upon to add certain colours.
The same principle applies to batik painting. The difference lies in the fact that batik paintings depict scenery, stories, or messages through motifs, figures, shapes, colours, lines, patterns, brush strokes, and other artistic elements on the painting surface.
What sets batik painting apart from other forms is the use of cloth, dyes, and wax. These create “cracks” in the painting, which are patterns formed by applying thick wax on the cloth after all the colours are done. The hardened wax is then cracked, and a dark colour like black, red, green, or blue is applied. This colour seeps into the cracks, creating permanent patterns and giving the painting a distinctive batik identity.
In 1970, while I was in Form Three, I learned batik painting from my teacher Stephen Teo, a renowned Sarawak batik expert. In 1971, Joshua Jalie Linggong became our new teacher and took over the Batik Club of Saratok Secondary School. He fulfilled his promise of organizing an exhibition and brought us to Kuching for a group exhibition at the British Council Hall. This was the first exhibition for most of us. I later became the first fine arts graduate from any Malaysian university in the state, followed by my classmate from Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Overall, my journey as an artist has been a diverse one, encompassing various styles and mediums. While I haven’t created any batik pieces or paintings in the past four years, I hope to find inspiration soon and continue exploring the world of art.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the New Sarawak Tribune.
