Memayu Hayuning Bawana
$328.00
Memayu Hayuning Bawana is featured in aNERDgallery’s exhibition inVISIBLE: Exploring and Redefining Femininity Through Batik, in partnership with Together-Gether SG.
Curator’s Note
While the three shades of red are inspired by the Buddhism cosmology, the figures inside them do not exactly represent what are happening in those realms, specifically the jungle fowls in the middle section.
At the topmost layer, the supposed formless realm was represented by the cloud and rainfall. The cloud was the artist’s interpretation which is different from the usual cotton candy shape. The rainfall was inspired by classic udan liris motif that symbolises abundance and prosperity.
Memayu Hayuning Bawana is a Javanese philosophy which translates to maintaining the safety, peace, happiness and well-being of the real world and hereafter. Women are the protectors of the realm. Only by maintaining the beauty and peace in the world that it will bring a new meaning to life. This has to be done both physically, through taking care of their own body and surrounding environments, as well as in the abstract sense to manage and take care of their spiritual self.
The three shades of red represents the three realms of Buddhist cosmology – the desire realm (Kāmadhātu), form realm (Rūpadhātu) and formless realm (Ārūpyadhātu). Akin to Bima who is known for his stoic disposition, bravery, honesty and resilience, this work personifies women having these similar characteristics. In the middle layer are jungle fowls that represents strength and the ability to survive even in the harshest condition. The top most layer represents the highest realm depicted by the abstract rains and clouds.
For the exhibition, Ratih created this art work by first applying the wax to create the outline. The colourful portions, such as the wayang and the jungle fowls in the bamboo forest, were coloured with rhemasol dye and waxed over to protect them from the subsequent dyeing. Just prior to the dipping process, the waxed portion was softly whacked to create the cracked wax (batik remukan) effect.
Finally, for the red background, working from the lightest colour, the cloth are dipped into the dye vat and wax are applied to protect the colour from being tainted with the darker shades of red. The process of dip-dyeing and waxing are repeated a couple more times to get the three different shades of red before the final wax removal in boiling water and soda ash.
- Size: 225 cm x 105 cm (88.6” x 41.3”)
- Material: Naphtol and Rhemasol dye on Primissima cotton
- Pattern(s): Udan Liris, Jungle Fowls, Wayang
- Technique: Hand-drawn batik
- Production Area: Yogyakarta, Indonesia
- Year of Production: 2018
Listing last update: 16 May 2018.
