Deft Dame: Kartika Affandi I dont want to become the second papi.

That is the word of Kartika Affandi when people compare her with her father Affandi. Even though she is already a renowned painter in Indonesia, she still cant escape from being associated with her father. She once asked her father what she needs to do to forge her own identity in art and he replied; Im not a teacher, you have to find it on your own. With that, Kartika embarked on a journey to search for her own style and carve her own place in the international art scene. Seeing this dame of 75 years old deftly paint with her fingers is an astonishing experience. A technique inherited from his father, it eschews the traditional brush and palette. Instead the paint is pressed out from the tube, mixed at the back of her left hand before being picked up by her right fast fingers. Using the fingers is quicker, thus the emotions feels truer. The other defining characteristic that is shared by this father and daughter is the sheer speed in completing a painting. In a vocation where days and months are common measure of time, three hours is enough for them. I dont want to overdo the painting, thats why I limit the time. Both of them also share the love of painting outdoors; capturing scenes, plants, animal, and people. Not only they explored the various regions in Indonesia but went abroad as well. Among the places are the Great Wall of China, Holland, Paris, and Penang. The early works of Affandi is more of the naturalistic style, faithfully capturing every detail in full color. He even prefers to describe himself as tukang gambar which can be loosely translated as photographer. But later on he realized that photos will always do that better, so he set out to infuse his expression and interpretation of the subject into the painting. Meanwhile, Kartika who is still searching stumbled upon a series of monochromatic painting by Chinese and Japanese painters. That inspired her to experiment circa 1973; rendering the Affandi technique in black and white. It was challenging at first but her perseverance led to the refinement of the technique. In the workshop hosted by RA Fine Arts, she clearly demonstrated her prowess in capturing the expression of the subject with her fingers in black and white. She picked Raja Ahmad Aminullah, the proprietor of the gallery itself to be the model.

Curiously, although Raja Ahmad sports a friendly demeanor his image on the canvas is evidently worried. The contrast is rather bewildering and draws questions from the audience. Ibu Kartika quickly enlighten, I did not capture what on his face but the emotion impressed upon when I start to paint. He might not show it, but I know he is worried with so many upcoming events and exhibitions. One might say that the emotion captured is only possible out of their long acquaintance but Ibu Kartika did similar feat with a complete stranger before. At that time, it was the model himself who explained his inner self to the astonished audience. Its rather hard to paint Pak Rajas face especially his moustache. Its neither black nor white, further notes Ibu Kartika with a smile. However, black and white are not fully able to capture the gradients and subtleties. This is where Rembrandt pearlescent effect paints come into play. Applying it straight out of the tube with a pointy nozzle, she adds sparkle to the painting. Despite being driven by emotion, Ibu Kartika claims that it is impossible for her to paint without the aid of a subject. She recounts a hilarious episode when she attempted to draw buffaloes when she only has cows. At last, the creature she painted resembled a dog! It is her sensitivity as a woman that differentiates her works from her maestro father. She is especially relieved when his father said, You have found yourself. From there, she blooms like the sunflower the she love. She is endowed with honorary doctorate from Northern California Global University as well as Gold Medal from Academica Italia for her contribution in restoration works. In 1985, she is recognized as Master of Painter from Youth of Asian Artist Workshop. The Outstanding Artist award from Mills College at Oakland California follows in 1991. The sunflower she said have a big stalk although it still sways and the flower always face the sun. That clearly reflects her name that means a star that will always twinkle even in the midst of cloudy sky.