Taking refuge in an inkstone with Indonesian artist Elicia Edijanto

Roar of Thunder

Elicia Edijanto’s drawings evoke a tranquil realm undisturbed by the din of the outside world. In her work, a half-naked child lives peacefully with wild animals, setting out together on an epic journey.

在印尼艺术家 Elicia Edijanto 的画里，存在着一个不受外在喧嚣干扰的宁静世界。一个总是裸着上身的孩子，和许多野生动物在这里和平共处，在彼此的陪伴下共同踏上一段跋涉万里的旅途。

Lullaby

October's Tale

Journey

She works in watercolor and pencil, using an ink in varying concentrations that go from dense black to faint gray. The horizon stretches between heaven and the earth, and here life flourishes. In the real world, has such harmony among people, animals, and the world already vanished?

A lifelong Jakartan, Edijanto laments that her densely populated hometown leaves so little space for nature. “There’s very little room for green areas, parks, or decent beaches,” she says. “The longing to reunite with nature, perhaps, has influenced the themes of my paintings.”

她擅长使用水彩和铅笔作画，渲染出这一片亦浓亦淡的黑色，勾勒出地平线的两端是天与地，万物在此滋养生息。但是这种人、物、天地之间的单纯友谊，在现实社会中是否早已消声匿迹了呢？

从小在雅加达生活，Elicia 感叹这是一座人口稠密的城市，很可惜地它并没有留给自然太多空间。“绿地、公园或是像样的海滩都很少见了。也许正是这股与大自然重聚的渴望，塑造了我画作的主题。”

Genesis

“My subjects are often children and animals, because both in their feelings and in their gestures, they’re honest, sincere, unprejudiced, and unpretentious,” she says. “They’re the perfect messengers for what I want to share. I want my art to celebrate hope and innocence. Amid the depressing, tiresome news piling on top of us every day, I’d like to remind us of innate human goodness and help us find consolation in nature.”

“我画中的主角大多是小孩和动物，因为无论是情感或是行为上，他们都很诚实、真心、谦逊、没有偏见。因此他们是最可以帮助我传达讯息的信使——我想用艺术来庆祝希望和纯真。你我的日常生活可能被许多坏消息或令人厌倦的新闻淹没，但我想提醒大家人性中固有的善良，以及借由我的画，让大家在自然中找到一丝安慰。”

Watermelon by the River

Baliem

Stars and Voyagers

Edijanto’s style has been powerfully influenced by traditional Japanese ink wash painting (sumi-e). What makes this age-old art form difficult is that it stresses revealing precise but subtle emotions in bold brushstrokes. The forces of motion and rest, embrace and surrender form a balance in their contrast, and neither can be too evident.

“The essence of sumi-e is its minimalism, its ability to capture the essence rather than the form. It teaches us to know what’s necessary and what can be left out,” she explains. “I’ve always tried to find a better formula to intensify the emotional meaning without filling the canvas with too many objects.”

她的创作风格十分受到传统水墨画（Sumi-e）的影响，这种历史悠远的绘画形式困难的地方在于：它强调在大胆动态的笔触中流露出细致轻盈的情感。动与静、放与收的力量相映成趣，两者都不能过于张扬。

“水墨画的精髓在于极简主义，一种捕捉事物本质而非耽溺于形式的能力。它教会了我在一幅画面中什么是必要留下、什么是可以舍弃的东西。” Elicia 说，“所以我一直在尝试找到一个更好的方案，能在不用太多物体去填充画布的前提下，同时表达出强烈的情感意义。”