By: Heri Kris (Artist and Curator)

Enigma is the title of a solo exhibition of Nahum Suwarsita’s paintings at G-Printmaking art studio. Nahum was born in Yogyakarta in August 1965. He received fine arts education since 1982 when he studied at SMSR Yogyakarta and in 1986 continued at ISI Yogyakarta majoring in painting. Nahum’s work is more abstract in style without form and  is impulsive. His expressions flow spontaneously without planned sketches or theme designs, minimal brush strokes  and more use of fluid techniques spilled on to the canvas intuitively. When he creates, Nahum always imagines everything he feels at that time. The paint used is acrylic with a water medium that dries quickly  making it easier for Nahum to assemble all the images that feel flowing. The improvisational technique of creating overlapping colors makes his work more dimensional.

Nahum Suwarsita’s paintings are enigmatic in nature and contain elements of mystery so it is not easy to guess what meaning is in his paintings. There is a puzzle in his paintings because the semiotics displayed are vague and abstract. Sometimes Nahum’s paintings are imaginary, as in his works entitled “Embryo” in 2023 and “When I’m falling in love” in 2023 as well as the painting “Mystery of nature” in 2023. These three paintings show a vague image compared to other works which are more abstract without any image. Epistemologically, Nahum wants to give the appreciator the beauty of multiple interpretations to invite him to enter the realm of the feelings he has expressed.

Enigmatic paintings are not judged by the extent to which the work is communicative or not towards appreciators, but by the extent to which the work invites an imaginary dialogue with appreciators. Nahum’s paintings never depict real natural forms so they can be called non-representational. According to Agnes Martin, abstract art is a concrete representation of our subtlest feelings, as Nahum Suwarsita does in his work. ***