Whose Canvas: Vinsensius Dedy Reru

Vinsensius Dedy Reru, better known as Dedy, has been involved with art since he was a young boy. Growing up, he has devoted his life to painting, making his own name in the scene. What he expresses in his art is normally a message about preserving culture, inviting his audiences to treat foreign elements wisely.
Your father is from Flores, and your mother is a Javanese. However, you were born and raised in Bali. How do you incorporate these three elements into your art?
In my work process, I put more traditional Balinese elements, as well as modern elements. This is probably because I didn’t have any social experience in Flores or Java.
What has become your artistic inspiration?
I don’t have specific inspiration; it just flows. Until now, the inspirations for my art have come from many periods and aspects, from the past of Bali, Balinese contemporary art, to music-related things like John Lennon and The Beatles. And for now, I’ve been using coffee as my art medium.
Why coffee?
We could say that it was perhaps a coincidence. One day, my friends and I were having a group exhibition at a gallery in Sanur where I met an art lover and painting collector, Mr. Wirawan Tjahjadi, who also happened to own a coffee house. I got this challenge from him to utilize coffee as a medium. And now, many of my paintings have been collected by him.
Can you tell us briefly about your exhibited works at Bidadari Art Gallery?
The paintings actually show a Balinese wedding ceremony of my relative, the people there are all family members. That time when we opened the exhibition at Bidadari Art Gallery was what we call dewasa in Bali, or the day that is good for young people of Bali to perform wedding ceremonies. That’s how the idea to make this traditional wedding ceremony as a theme was born.