An experiment in the medium of photography

Elaboration of the face as a reflection of interpretive cultural experience 

Professional photographers most often use the technique of multiple exposure with a manual camera, with the intention of finding some "other" image. This technique is also used by Ivana Sojaković in various works exhibited in the art gallery of the French Cultural Center (CCF), Bandung. The exhibition was opened on Tuesday evening (23/6). Ivana Stojaković is not a new artist in Indonesia. Her works such as installations, performances and two-dimensional works have already been presented to Indonesian audiences several times. A pure art background (painting) she still consistently practices in performing visual experiments in various media to express her artistic ideas and imagination. 

This time, as a medium for his ideas, he uses photo-paper and canvas, which are artistically and conceptually shaped and presented in series. Ivana played with cultural memories from the past and Indonesian culture that is woven into artistic ideas, for example in the "self-portrait" series. 

A self-portrait with one's own face as an object is present in discourses about identity, which Ivana has been searching for since her first artistic steps in her country. Accumulation of one's own face using the method of multiple exposure and the presence of a traditional Cirebon mask form a visual language with multiple possibilities of interpretation. "All the motifs in the photographs come from Serbia, where the photographs were taken, but in Indonesia they are recognized as already existing and not as motifs from my imagination." For these reasons, a series of photographs taken in 2003 in Serbia was elaborated and introduced now, in 2009, in Indonesia. I found photography interesting as a medium for experiments, even though I'm not a photographer myself," said Ivana Stojaković. 

"Cage" is the second series of photographs, which was first exhibited under the title LIBERATION at the Circus Gallery and Zoo in Belgrade in 2003. Five photographs from that series are currently on display at this exhibition. The series titled "Vašar" depicts Ivana's recollections of childhood memories that she felt were lost as she navigated the confines of institutional education. "Ivana skillfully uses photography to convey her artistic ideas and concepts, transforming what should be obvious from the camera's eye into scenes that can be stunning, unique, unforgettable or come from a dream..." said Efik Muliyadi, artistic director of Gallery Bentara Budaya - Jakarta.

Argus Firmansyah

Art journalist