A meeting we love in all simplicity. We share a drink on a sidewalk in Old Nice at the foot of the Castle Hill. We share much more than a few centiliters of a refreshing rosรฉ. We discover an artist with a story, a reflection on the world around him, and dreams. “Art is a great journey,” Pras likes to say. Painting allowed him to discover Europe. He started painting twenty years ago. He studied communication with a specialization in graphic illustration. He retains some techniques which he applies to painting. Today, at the age of 33, Pras has acquired artistic maturity.
Pras paints to communicate. It’s a very important medium for him. He studied it and found in painting an excellent way to convey what he feels. He certainly creates abstract works, but they lead the observer to find meaning in each painting. “I work a lot on figurative abstraction so that everyone, according to their own life and experiences, feels the canvas differently,” explains Pras. He is passionate. He loves to explain his paintings and discuss them with his artist friends in Bali. “We exchange ideas, and critiques too. I accept it. Very often, I end up throwing away a canvas or even burning it when I don’t like it.”
“I can paint anywhere and anytime, even though I prefer the morning.” Pras is spontaneous in life and with a paintbrush. An idea might come to his mind right in the middle of dinner. He’ll head to his studio, leaving his friends behind, and paint. “Sometimes it doesn’t go down well that I leave like that, but generally I’m understood.”
He is very attached to his country. His art allows him to express himself. And he has things to say. Even though he is free to speak, he is wary of pressure groups that revolve around power. He gives a quick state of affairs: “There is inequality between men’s and women’s conditions. Women stay at home. Opportunities are not the same for everyone depending on where you come from in Indonesia. It’s a developing country, and that’s the problem of countries in economic boom. In many places in Indonesia, people live below the poverty line while elsewhere there is a lot of wealth.” He is happy to participate in a humanitarian effort. In fact, as part of the Art Jhi exhibition, the sale of artworks will help Indonesian schools acquire artistic materials. He laments the role of religion: “Laws, culture, are based on religion.” Finally, a final frustration in the realm of pictorial art, his field: “Bali is very touristy. Many artists paint only to sell.”
Pras is staying in France for the second time. He is very curious and appreciates multiculturalism: “I take the opportunity to visit museums where there are many famous pieces. It’s always good to see them in real life because you can discern the brushstrokes. You get a better sense of the painter’s work.”
Nice was just a stopover in his artistic journey. He came to present his works with all modesty. Tomorrow, his journey will take him elsewhere, in Indonesia and around the world.
ART JHI
