NOVI Wayan

Wayan Novi (IWAYAN AGUS NOVIANTO) is a young artist recognised for his persistence in manipulating the eye’s insensitivity in examining details, though the implementation of a collection of marks and dots that creates an impression of his imaginative natural landscape. His works are a marriage of folk art and pointillism, born as a deformation from the tradition of still-life painting which has been his vision since childhood. The development of Wayan Novi’s artistic practice grew alongside the rapid development that occured in Bali; both became inseparable. His pictures develop from the memory of the beauty of nature as subject matter. The peculiarity of his work is the stylization or the composition of nature in a painting, and his expertise in creating density on a flat canvas, resembling a form of hallucination via the colour gradations. Since his debut, Wayan Novi’s work have been collected widely around the region.

I do not limit myself to express my feelings, especially for creating my works. Specifically when I have to decide the exact theme of those works I did. The limit is not only the matter of theme, but also in the matter of idea. I keep searching something new until it is interesting enough to be put into an artwork. The objects are then interpreted based on my imagination. My current work is similar with the previous works that focused on the everyday objects I found in my hometown. Yet, now I choose to have plants and floral as objects to recall my childhood memories in Bali. I lived in Angsri, Bali where most of the people work as farmers. Angsri, with its mountainous landscape, is a home for some famous hot springs, let’s say Angseri Hot Spring. The farmers also still use Subak system, Bali traditional water management system, which creates terraces from the upper reaches down to the valleys. These objects bring me home, and wake the memories up when my family does their daily activities. The natural landscape, trees, flowers, and bushes are pictured through stylisation, merged with abstract and pointillist technique.