the colour of life

2 August - 8 August 2003

W.A. School Of Yoga, West Australia

My life is in transition. The world situation seems unclear to me, a few human tragedies have happened. I used to live in a small Balinese compound with nearly fifty people: parents, brother, sister, wife, children, cousins, uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews. As a member of a traditional community, I like to travel the world. Wherever I am, I feel in touch with my roots. To maintain a balance between continuity and change is a major goal in my life; not losing the old in order to develop the new. I spend my time both with rice farmers and educated people at universities, as well as the villagers and visitors in Bali; both in my home and in other's home countries. I live in low-tech and high-tech environments. Where do I belong?

In reality, I belong to the world, belong to the spirits of today, I belong to this era. Transition. I feel my self is empty, I am aware of my limitations. Belonging and not belonging anywhere. I am a searcher and an explorer of cultures. Learning the "colour of life". I am alone, but I am not.

I want to do something for the world, I do not know what to do. As a painter and art educator I do have tools to express my concerns. Through my artwork and art theories I want to share visual languages with others.

Colour is very important to me. I love colour. For me painting is about colour. I enjoy playing with colour. I experience and see life through colour. Understanding the wide array of colour allowed me to understand life. Mixing and layering colours on canvas has opened a wider horizon in my mind, especially about the different in similarity and the similarity in the different. The diversity of my roles in life are reflected in the colour I choose. I learn life through colour. I believe colour and me are one. I feel lucky to see life with/through colour, not only black and white.

Colour is in a position between physical and spiritual worlds, as a pigment and the soul itself. My previous artwork was about a series of paintings rooted on the Balinese colour circle "pengider Bhuana". Pengider Bhuana is symbolised by mandala with eight directions plus the centre, each associated with a colour, gods, attribute, number, place in the body, etc.

[I Wayan Karja]