Purwita Sukahet

Dewa Gede Purwita or Purwita Sukahet as people call him is not only putting his mind into the visual component of his painting, but also a literacy component within his artworks which is also supported by fellow artists united under the roof of Gurat Institute. Purwita is now working on painting, sculpting, and writing inside his own home studio while teaching in Bali Design Institute or Sekolah Tinggi Desain Bali.
How did it all start?
Initially, after I graduated from high school I didn’t get my parents approval to get into an art major in college. They wanted me to be a teacher instead. Because my parents blocking my way to get accepted in the college of my choice in Denpasar, I went to Singaraja without ever stepping foot into that city. However, later I got accepted in an art teaching major. During my time in college, I was attracted to Basuki Abdulah’s work, then I got to know Affandi from a visual art magazine. Then my interest in art was getting more serious during my last semester in college.
What kind of effect did Basuki Abdulah and Affandi have on you?
In my opinion, Basuki Abdulah and Affandi are the pioneers of Indonesian painter. I adore Basuki because he was a strong realist and Affandi because he had a great explorative capability. Furthermore, I am also inspired by the work of Balinese maestros I Gusti Nyoman Lempad and I Ketut Gede Singaraja, a revolutionary painter who was friend of Van der Tuuk in the mid-1800s. For me, all of them have some gifted intelligence.
How are the characteristics of your paintings?
In the past two years, I started to get bored with my artistic achievements and they are becoming a bit stagnant. That’s why I often make a visit to some senior painters such as Nyoman Erawan, Made Budhiana, Lekung, Agung Darma Yudha, and Dewa Ngakan Ardana. By keeping in touch with them, I can refill some more enthusiasm inside my head to keep exploring painting. From them, I also understand that painting technique is not all about visual but also about its literary point of view. After that I move my painting characterization from its visual into its literary point of view. Explore more on the reason why I choose the media such as canvas, paper, colouring tool, etc, so that I’m not pegged to make my art unique solely on its visualization but also its meaning. However, I have one essential element on my paintings which is the line.
About the paintings displayed on Galungan Cina exhibition?
I have two artworks in the current exhibition which are called ‘Blue’ and ‘Unconscious’. One artwork is three metres long and displayed on a table, the other artworks is hanging on the wall and one meter square wide. I don’t want my art to be a cliché things about China but I try to keep some Chinese elements in them like adding Chinese coins or kepeng and keep the important Chinese colours like red, gold and yellow. Everything goes under thorough consideration like how important is the line on my artwork or how important is the colour on my painting, etc.