Clowning as a form of resistance

I'm doing a module on Arts of Southeast Asia and for the final term project, we've to come up with our own individual art project with a topic related to what we've learnt. So I think the clowns of wayang kulit, precisely because they have bellies, penis fingers, black skin etc, are really interesting characters to work with. But of course noone can write that as a valid reason. To sum it up, clowns in SEA shadow puppetry are part divine-part human, they can exist in both epic time and modern time, and most importantly, they are representatives of the common people. Because of the nature of the clowns and the humor they create, village folks identify with them, and in effect, puppeteers use clowns for social critique and commentary on modern life - thus forming a kind of resistance against mainstream ideals.

Probably noone will be interested in reading that whole chunk so anyway. I did three versions of the clowns of Javanese wayang kulit doing everyday stuff in the format of paintings.





Semar, Petruk and Gareng smoking, drinking coffee and talking politics




Petruk teaching wayang kulit to children










Semar, Petruk and Gareng visit man of importance




SEA art is very different from Western art...so don't judge with the same eye. Although you can judge my poor skill of watercolor painting. But lookie the batik sarongs! I painted them with utmost details!



Some extra thingies