Art Across The City 2013 is fast approaching (28 March – 12 May), with artists including Sinta Tantra, Olaf Breuning and Pete Fowler. We caught up with Sinta Tantra to explain her work…
ST: Just before my exhibition at Open Eye Gallery as part of the Liverpool Biennial this year, I was approached by Locws International – Art Across the City. It was peculiar synchronicity because a few days before, I had read about them in AN. I am a big fan of their commissioned artists including David Blandy, Bedwyr Williams and Joanne Tatham & Tom O’ Sullivan. At a time of global recession and drastic budget cuts (especially in the arts), it’s wonderful how Swansea are really taking the plunge – investing in the town’s regeneration and future legacy.
How did you approach the local context and site?
Previously, the only facts I knew about Swansea were Dylan Thomas and beaches. When visiting I was struck by the cultural diversity as seen on St. Helen’s Road. Walking past you’ll see Welsh next to Ethiopian, next to Chinese, next to an Indian, next to Italian – and coming from Bali, I was particularly drawn to the unexpected presence of an little Indonesian restaurant called ‘Garuda‘. Although I am very used to towns and cities dividing themselves into cultural neighbourhoods such as ‘China Town’, I have never seen such a crazy cultural mish-mash on such a small stretch of road. I wanted to create a piece of work that reflected this experience and challenged the stereotypes of Swansea – injecting a sense of ‘exotica’ into the fabric of the town itself.
Can you talk about the title of the work?
“A Greater Reality of Elsewhere” is a Truman Capote quote, which lies somewhere in-between story telling and journalistic reportage. It symbolises the activity of day dreaming. Yet the word ‘reality’ also suggests danger – too much dreaming causes boundaries to blur and self control to be lost. As an artist I am intrigued by the ‘fantasy / fiction’ duality – especially in the context of pop culture and the world of art. ‘Romantic truth’, as seen in the drip paintings of Jackson Pollock, has been replaced by the ’genuine fake’ of Andy Warhol – and it is this sense of ‘hyperreality’ that I wanted to bring into my work in Swansea.
What does the palm tree symbolise?
The printed palm trees are in fact photographs taken of a 1950′s brooch. I chose this jewellery specifically to heighten the feeling of a ‘Tropical Deco’ and ‘Americana Kitsch’. The photographs were then enlarged to a scale of 6 metres in height, placed over the painted background and positioned to create a spatial tension between the geometric components of both the painting and the building’s architecture. I use palm trees in my work a lot and apart from reminding me of Bali, they symbolise ‘paradise’ and the need to capture fleeting moments in souvenir / postcard format. The palms are never natural looking and often reference decorative craft and artificiality . The palms in Swansea have a surreal and ominous undertone to them whilst remaining a bit camp and ridiculous.
Can you talk about the choice of colours in the work?
Even though the majority of my work is influenced by a Western art education, my visual understanding of colour has been heavily influenced by my experience of living in Bali as a child. It is often said that ‘smell’ or ‘touch’ brings back memory. I remember things through colour – especially the way in which colours vibrate against each another. I like the idea of ‘colour semiotics’ and the associations one has to particular colours in relationship to either brand or narrative. In recent works I have combined cooler tones of English Heritage with the eye popping colours of digital advertising. The juxtaposition of past and present reflects a world that is consumed by the ‘now’, nostalgic about its past and a little lost about its future.
www.artacrossthecity.com
