•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   

The first time Sumatra-born artist Baron Basuning saw Antarctica, it suggested to him a blank canvas.

“I used to work on a cruise ship, and during that time I got to go to Antarctica,” he said. “That was the moment when I decided to become a painter. Everything around me was white, like a canvas. It was inspiring.”

In every exhibition, Basuning dedicates at least one painting to Antarctica, including in his seventh solo exhibition, titled “Strawberry in a Cornfield,” which is being held in the lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel until Oct. 6.

While corn and strawberries are not staples of Indonesian cuisine, Basuning’s abstract paintings are in fact, he says, allegories of national identity.

“Actually, rice is Indonesia’s main staple, not corn,” he said. “I chose corn instead of rice because I create abstract paintings.”

Basuning said that even though strawberries are not typically grown in Indonesia, the people here are crazy about them.

The strawberry in the exhibition title is symbolic of all things Western, while the cornfield represents Indonesian traditions, Basuning said.

“I feel like many Indonesians, especially the rich and the younger generation, don’t value their own culture anymore, even though Indonesia is such a rich country,” he said. “That doesn’t mean I don’t like foreign things. But when I stayed in New York for seven years, I never forgot my home country.”

“It is very important to find a balance,” he added.

Two of the paintings in “Strawberry in a Cornfield” commemorate Indonesia’s independence from the Dutch in 1945 and are dominated by red and white, the colors of the flag, as well as green to signify the country’s natural beauty, the artist said.

“Sometimes it takes no longer than two or three hours to finish one painting,” he said. “But getting the inspiration, the mood and the right feeling — that can take a while.”

Later this year, Basuning will show his works in Singapore, and he has also been invited to New York to exhibit his paintings at a gallery in Chelsea in December.

The former journalist and activist was born in a village near Palembang, South Sumatra, and went to high school in Yogyakarta.

He trained to be a reporter before deciding to set off and see the world. He worked on a cruise ship and eventually moved to New York, where he focused on becoming a professional painter.

His style has changed since his earlier exhibitions. While in his former work, Basuning almost exclusively used square shapes, he now focuses more on round, curvy shapes.

“Every artist needs to change,” he said. “In order to find the real me, I have to do something fresh, something new, and find my own style.”

“And, as long as I can make at least one person happy, then I think I’ve done a good job,” Basuning said.

Strawberry in a Cornfield
Solo exhibition by Baron Basuning
Until Oct. 6
Four Seasons Hotel
Jl. Rasuna Said, Kuningan
South Jakarta