(It was a strange strange day when Dito and I went visiting Heri Dono's studio. There was no trace of bird's sound nor conversation in the air. It was as if the space is spelled with some kind of ancient magic~ so powerful and overwhelming. Maybe it was because the house used to belong to the royalty before it turned into a hospital, a school, and a police office before Heri Dono decided to use it as a studio. Or maybe, it was because of the almost-mythical figures he displayed here and there: from a lovely lady's statue looking at visitors from above, to human-head-swan statues in front of the house. The hanging upside down man-like plastic figure in all white and faerie-like troops hanging in the living room certainly builds up the atmosphere.
Heri Dono himself has this persona of someone who came straight out of Tim Burton's book. Living a solitary life in his strange fortress, creating magical troops of faeries and dinosaurs, combining the whimsical and the grim at the same time. This burtonesque feel gives me nightmares for a few days after the visit. This kind of effect is similar to that which I felt after going to Agus Suwage's retrospective few years ago~ with less sociopolitical issue and more fairytales. Before this visit, I wouldn't say that I'm much of a fans of Heri Dono. Yet, going through the whole buildings (three of them) full of his past works in a place so enchanted with old strange spell impressed me in so many ways. He is indeed, a story teller ahead of his time.)
//P.S.//
He is going to have a retrospective show this year in Jakarta. (Something to look forward to!) | Click here to find out more about him.