Srikandi by Lucia Hartini 1993
Oil on Canvas, 150 x 150 cm
1(a) Describe the use of space, colour and brushwork.
The work Srikandi is done by Lucia Hartini in 1993, where it is now one of her most famous works and also got her to be recognized in the international field. It the work, it depicts the painter herself in the middle of the painting, wearing a drapery blue dress.
For the use of space in the painting, we are can that Hartini is in the foreground, occupying most of the space in the painting, suggesting her self importance. She is the superior in the painting, and by having her posted by having her hands beside her waist, it will appear that she is even bigger and takes up more space in the painting. In contrast with the size of the artist, the eyes that the artist is staring at appear to be rather small. The many yet tiny eyes may suggest that those eyes, with represents the remarks and opinions of the public on her, are insignificant to herself and she takes them lightly.
At the background, about have of the painting is occupied by the brick walls while the other half is occupied by the natural elements, such as the moon and the clouds. By having the brick walls, which looks like the Great Wall of China, occupying most of the background, she might want to suggest that the surrounding around her is demanding and tough, but she had strived hard and achieved success. Hence, by achieving victory, she takes up most of the space and the foreground of the painting. The natural elements also occupied a significant space. The weather there is calming and peaceful. She might want to imply that even though her surrounding is tough, there are still beautiful moments and things that she should appreciate and things around her are getting better.
Although for the brick walls, it seems to be very crammed and tight together, with no space to any movements, the sky on the other hand seemed to be very spacious and limitless, where she will then be able to soar freely up in the air, free to express herself as an artist.
In terms of the colour, she used many striking colours to attract the attention of the viewers. The artist is wearing a drapery dark blue colour dress, where it contrasted with the brown red colours of the brick walls. She has painted her wearing a blue dress as that is the dress worn by the female warriors in her country in the past, where those females were in charged to protect the Sultans then. With the contrasting red colour as the background colour, it makes the artist stands out. And once again, the artist used the difference in colour to suggest her importance and significance in the painting. The red of the brick walls make them look very demanding and pressurizing, which the colour bought out the kind of society she is facing at that period of time.
The colour of the artist’s skin appears to be in a very healthy colour of golden brown. This colour makes the artist looks very strong and superior and confident woman who everyone looks up to. The painting is also painted with bright colour, especially for the colours used to the paint the artist and the brick walls around her. It may suggest that she has a bright future in front of her and it is full of optimism. The best is yet to come and her surrounding environment is improving. With bright colours, the painting is full of hope.
The sky which includes the clouds and the moon is painting with very calming and smoothing colours, of pale yellow and blue. It seems to suggest that the weather at that time is very comfortable, with bright sunlight too. It gives the painting a sense of happiness, by having the sly to be painted in gentle colours. In contrast, the sky around the numerous pairs of tiny eyes seems to be rather dark and moody. The sky is painted with dark blue colour, which suggests that there may be a thunderstorm coming. The sky around the pairs of eyes seemed more pessimistic and the weather poses a greater danger.
For the brushworks, Hartini used very detailed and invisible brushstrokes. She adopted the style of the super surrealism, like Dali, she paints in a very realistic style and allows the viewers to feel that they are actually inside the painting. Even when painting such a emotional subject matter of self confidence, reflection and also her own viewpoints of the society, she still treats her paint with great care and details. Audience can see that she treated by paints with such details that even the veins in her hands and arms are clearly shown in the painting the brushstrokes for the dress are very fluid like, in order for the dress to look smoother and drapery. However, her brushstrokes for the brick walls are more concise and solid, in order to sow the degree of hard and strong in the walls. With the smooth and detailed brushstrokes, Hartini is then successful in depicting the calm and peaceful sky at the background.
In conclusion, she treated all space, colour and brushstrokes with great care and successfully conveyed her message through these mediums.
(b) Comment on the influences behind this work.
“Srikandi”, painted by Lucia Hartini, bears great influence of the artist’s personal life and it serves as a reflection of the artist in her current situation and state. These work was done by her in 1993, when she slowly gained recognition as an artist in the international level, and hence her self confidence grew and this is one of the first painting she started to portray herself in a close resemblance in her works. Also at that period of time, two Indonesia women in the political field stood up and influenced Hartini to stand up for her fellow women as well. Through this work, she is trying to reflection her current state, where she realized her purpose, significance and power in the society and she is trying to express out her own confidence and attitude towards the society in this painting.
Firstly, she named these work “Srikandi”, where the woman in the painting can be viewed as both the artist and the fictional folktale character, Srikandi. Srikandi is a fictional character which symbolizes strong and able woman warrior there. Even though she was married, she was determined to marry the prince of Pandra. She then went into battle with the prince in order to protect him. The prince was then touched by Srikandi’s loyalty and courage. However, she was then poisoned in a battle. Sje portrays herself as a female warrior, who fights against the sex discrimination in Indonesia, where she was discriminated as a female artist. There, people, including her husband, do not recognize her as an artist and instead the people criticized her for taking up an occupation which is meant for the males. Hartini strived through the hard times in the earlier states of her career and finally gained some recognition as an artist.
She depicted herself in the life size, this suggest that she is trying to emphasize in her painting of her significance and importance by having herself occupying most of the painting. She depicted herself in such a position by having her hands around her waist and having her head to tilt slightly upwards. This may suggest that she is more superior to the others. She is confident of herself too and she is rooted firmly to the ground and is in a stable position, having her legs wide open. Her position also makes her look bigger and of a higher importance.
She is staring straight into the many pairs of eyes that seem to be observing her. She did not break down under the eyes; however she stared back at them, showing her courage and confidence of herself. The eyes imply the criticizes and prejudices that Hartini faced in the Indonesia society, where she was not recognized as an artist and which made her life very misery. She is now trying to show that she is not affected by the criticizes and prejudices of the public anymore. Instead she will face these difficulties by solving them and instead of running or hiding away from them. It may also mean that she sees less significance in these criticizes and she takes all these prejudices lightly and not to her heart.
The bricks around her seem to be breaking down. There are a number of interpretations to it. Firstly, it may mean that such strong bricks of wall, which resembles the Great Wall of China, is breaking under Hartini, which once again shows her power and significance. She is so powerful that the strong bricks of wall will break under her presence. The second interpretation will be that the brick walls actually resemble her. Even she may seem very strong and powerful outside, she is still weak and fragile inside, and in fact, she is breaking down (maybe because of the social prejudice in Indonesia), just like the strong brick walls cracking around her. However, the brick walls may also resemble the males in the Indonesia society while the drapery blue dress may represent the females in the Indonesia society. It may symbolize that the males in the society are going down and bearing less importance in the modern society, presented by the cracking of the brick walls. While the females in Indonesia are slowly bearing more importance in the society and they should attain equal rights as the males in the society. It is seen by having the blue dress on top of the brick walls and that the blue dress is both smooth and vibrant, suggesting the importance of women in Indonesia’s society. Hartini is seen as a female’s spokesperson for the females in Indonesia’s society, as through many of her works, the audiences can see that she is trying to fight for the equality and rights of the women in Indonesia.
The arrangement of the two sides of the brick walls also bears significance. The left side of the wall seems to be straight while the left side of the wall seemed to in a zigzag line. She may want to represent herself as the straight line side of the wall. Even though the society is chaotic and messy, suggested by the zigzag line on the other side of the wall, she remains straight, she remains to follow her own rules and keeps herself in order and ongoing and unaffected by the surrounding she is in. She manages express herself as an artist and not get affected by the environment around her.
The weather at the background also seems rather calming and comfortable, which suggest the current state she is in. There are large amount of sunlight around her, suggested by the bright colours used. Hence, it symbolizes that both she and the women in Indonesia have a bright future and that their future is full of optimism and hope.
In conclusion, this painting serves as a reflection of the success and recognition Hartini has achieved after all those hard works and also her will to fight and attain equal rights and power for the women in the Indonesia’s society.
