Lost and Found #3 by Dadang Christanto

This work is cast aluminium and measures 53 centimetres tall by 50 centimetres wide with a depth of 25 centimetres. The work is displayed on a black plinth.

The work is a three-dimensional bust that depicts the head, neck, shoulders and chest. The face is exposed aluminium, bright silver with a high sheen. The eye sockets and mouth are hollowed out, and the expression is one of surprise or of a mouth open to gasp. The entire surface is an opaque white upon which unfolds a mythical scene.

The central figure shown in the middle of the bust is reminiscent of the Indonesian shadow puppetry know as Wayang Kulit, wayang meaning shadow and kulit means skin or leather, reflective of the materials used. The figure is in traditional dress and adornment, with a pointed, golden crown, necklace, earrings and bangles on each wrist and a highly patterned sarong with curving lines, flowers and leaves in bright red, pink, blue, green and orange and is shown in side profile facing to the right. The figure sits cross legged and appears to float. To the left of the figure is a tree with a long, narrow trunk and branches filled with green leaves, in the uppermost branches is perched a grey bird, perhaps a pigeon. Behind the tree, in the distance flows a blue river and beneath the river on the far-left hand side is a grey boar with tusks and its teeth bared. It faces to the left and towards a full, round, golden moon. On the far-right hand side of the bust near the bottom lies a spotted leopard with a dark orange coat, a blue bird sits on the back of its head, and both are facing to the right. Moving upwards is a mythical creature, a winged monkey up on its haunches. Above these animals, in the middle on the right-hand side is an orange deer with antlers, its head held up pointing upwards. On the shoulder of the bust, on the right is a large bright blue head, shown in side profile facing towards the left with red and pink gums exposed to reveal a set of golden teeth and fangs opened into a wicked smile or snarl. The blue demon head shown here typically refers to Batara Kala, the monstrous deity of time and destruction in Javanese and Balinese mythology. The technique employed by the artist on the surface of the bust is highly decorative, stylised, colourful and demonstrative of a deep tradition in folklore and storytelling found in Indonesian art and culture.

Born in central Java, Indonesia in 1957, Dadang Christanto has spent his career honouring the countless victims of political violence and crimes against humanity. His large-scale paintings, which are mostly spare renderings on raw linen using the human head as a recurring motif, express the suffering of victims and lay bare the anguish and grief that is endured in silence. The sincerity and rawness of emotion in his work is due in part to the circumstances of his own father’s disappearance when Christanto was a boy, yet the artist continues to produce art which pleads for compassion regardless of differing faiths and political beliefs.