Born in a small town of South Sumatra called Lubuklinggau, Bayu Widodo traveled far to Jogja to attend the leading art school in Indonesia, ISI Jogjakarta, in 2000. That’s when he found out that art is going to be his way of life. For him, making art is the way to express his thoughts about what he sees, reads and gets involved with. Now, living in the famous art village Nitiprayan, Jogjakarta, most of his works are associated with social activities of human daily life.
How did you begin your journey as an artist?
I’ve known art ever since I was in elementary school, then I got into vocational high school and followed by study in National Art Institute of Jogjakarta where I started to really understand the art world. Also, that’s when I realized that art is my life choice. Until now, my source of life coming from making art, teaching art at workshops and communities,being a jury as well as developing my own artistic brand Survive! Garage.
Can you tell us more about your artwork?
At first, I like to make craft, but I think it’s too functional and practical. I want a more complex form of art, so I got into painting. I started painting with ‘urban life’ as the theme in which it develops into a more general topic of human social life. I use ink on paper, canvas, wall and many more things as the media. In Survive! Garage studio, you can find my art in the form of t-shirts and merchandise.
What is the subject of your artwork?
I like to draw in series. Each series has the same subject with different context and meaning. For example, I’ve done series with hand, tree and house as the subject. In different paintings the subject can carry a different role, for example in my painting a tree is the source of human life, a house is the place for a person to start learning everything like language and first human contact, etc.
About your artwork in ‘Revive’ exhibition?
An artwork that can bother someone in a positive way. Once a person see the art, it makes them think, imagine, and feel something. I also prefer to work on a painting with a simple visual, but has a lot of expression hidden in it.
