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UC Riverside UC Riverside Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title The Power of "Visual Movement:" Re-shaping and Re-affirming Religious Practices in Modern Balinese Paintings Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7mf4v5pd Author Light, Astara Claire Publication Date 2015 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE The Power of "Visual Movement:" Re-shaping and Re-affirming Religious Practices in Modern Balinese Paintings A Thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Art History by Astara Claire Light August 2015 Thesis Committee: Dr. Jeanette Kohl, Chairperson Dr. Christina Schwenkel Dr. J.P. Park Dr. Sarita Echavez See Copyright by Astara Claire Light 2015 The Thesis of Astara Claire Light is approved: ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ Committee Chairperson University of California, Riverside Acknowledgements This thesis would never have been possible without the extensive guidance and encouragement from my thesis advisers and co-chairs, Drs. Christina Schwenkel and Jeanette Kohl. I would like to thank Dr. Kohl for her meticulous input on Art Historical questions and approaches that strengthened my research direction and arguments. I also want to thank Dr. Schwenkel for encouraging my ideas from an early stage and helping me broaden and sharpen my research approach. I am very grateful to my Art History thesis committee members, Drs. Sarita Echavez See, and J.P. Park for their advice on different components and questions for my thesis project; their direction has been invaluable. Additionally, I want to thank my Southeast Asian Studies comprehensive exam committee members Drs. Mariam Lam, Muhamad Ali, and Sarita Echavez See; their help and feedback on diverse approaches and research ideas has improved my work and been academically inspiring. I would also like to extend my thanks and gratitude to each of the individuals I was able to interview this past summer of 2014 for their patience and willingness to answer my questions. Dr. Soemantri Widagdo at the Puri Lukisan Museum was very generous with his time and supportive of my research ideas. I am also grateful to I Ketut Madra and his son Made Berata for taking the time to answer my questions about Madra’s work and background in painting. Other individuals who were also very helpful in answering questions during my summer research include Agung Rai, founder of the Agung Rai Museum of Art, Muhammad Bundhowi at the Rudana Museum. In addition to iv this, Anak Agung Ngurah Muning at the Puri Lukisan Museum was very helpful in sharing his extensive experience with Balinese art. Finally I would like to thank the artists I Wayan Ariana and I Wayan Gama at the Keliki style school of I Wayan Gama for their time in answering my many questions. Additionally, I would like to thank other faculty at the University of California, Riverside, for their assistance and feedback on topics and writings related to my research. In particular Dr. Hendrick Maier helped me tremendously with Indonesian language training; I also feel fortunate to have worked with Drs. Deborah Wong and David Biggs in Southeast Asian Studies. Additionally I want to thank Dr. Sally Ness for her generosity in answering questions and encouraging my academic pursuits. In the History of Art Department I am grateful for the feedback I received related to my research in courses with Drs. Susan Laxton, Malcolm Baker, and Jason Weems. And I would like to thank Alesha Jeanette whose personal guidance and organization have made it possible for me to complete this degree. Finally, I want to thank my fellow graduate students in the Art History and Southeast Asian Studies Departments for sharing experiences and advice and for inspiring me to become a better researcher and academic. In addition to this, I would like to express my thanks for the funding I received from the Graduate Dean’s Master’s Thesis Research Grant at the University of California, Riverside. This award was a tremendous funding support for my two-week research period in the summer of 2014. During this time I conducted interviews, visited museums, and attended artistic and performance related events. All of these experiences were invaluable for gaining a better understanding of the artistic and cultural environment v in Bali. I am also very appreciative of the funding I received from the Fulbright-Hays Fellowship in conjunction with the Consortium of the Teaching of Indonesian, which allowed me to travel to Indonesia and learn more about the language and culture as well as continue with my research in Bali afterward. I would like to especially thank my friend Inten Sari Korngiebal for being my dance teacher, and for first introducing and explaining Balinese culture to me from her personal perspective and experience in 2006. I am grateful as well for my friend and colleague, Lisa DeLance for all her personal support and academic assistance in reading and listening to my ideas. Finally, I would like to thank my family members, Catherine Hess, Daniel Cheeseman, and Sharlyn Romaine for their continuous moral support and encouragement that helped me stay positive and strong during this process. vi ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS The Power of "Visual Movement:" Re-shaping and Re-affirming Religious Practices in Modern Balinese Paintings by Astara Claire Light Master of Arts, Graduate Program in Art History University of California, Riverside, August 2015 Dr. Jeanette Kohl, Chairperson This thesis examines specific works from a range of styles, and contrasts the images to understand different types and degrees of “visual movement.” The Balinese painters Ida Bagus Made, I Ketut Madra, Anak Agung Gde Anom Sukawati, and I Gusti Nyoman Mirdiana merge new artistic methods and techniques with Hindu subject matter to create paintings with embedded symbolism. Their innovative methods are used to depict Hindu characters and narratives in a fluid and dynamic manner to represent physical or bodily motion in a painting. The Balinese-Hindu figure in motion that emerges in these works demonstrates an interlinked web amongst visual and performance forms. Most notable is the dual role of painting, shadow puppet-theater, and dance as “narrative” media; this shared function reveals an interconnection of art forms that is particularly relevant to Balinese culture. The Balinese have retained cultural and religious identities, which find a strong expression in Balinese art. vii Further examining the history of Balinese painting and dance reveals that artistic innovations and shifts in style are an ongoing process that often coincides with cultural exchanges with European painters, as well as touristic and national issues. Ultimately the production of paintings demonstrates that Balinese artists actively appropriated new techniques and materials to create distinctive and personal images. Balinese art forms reflect practices and beliefs. In this way, specific paintings present a visual account and representation of Balinese identities that are isolated amidst the religious and political climate of Indonesia. Artistic developments in Hindu-themed paintings demonstrate that individual artists are interpreting and representing similar Hindu stories and themes as earlier “traditional” paintings with visual twists, such as “visual movement,” that continually reinvent and re-affirm their beliefs. viii Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..1 Chapter 1…………………………………………………………………………………14 Artistic Developments and Cultural Interactions in Balinese Painting Chapter 2…………………………………………………………………………………51 Balinese Performative Figures in Motion: Development, Functions, and Forms of Expression Chapter 3…………………………………………………………………………………83 Movement and Meaning: The Significance of Visual Motion to Balinese-Hindu Culture and Identity Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………...…105 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………107 Figures…………………………………………………………………………………..114 ix
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