Women Art and Its Disclosure

Shalihah Ramadhanita

Universitas Negeri Surabaya, Seni Rupa Murni, Lidah Wetan, Surabaya, Indonesia

Keywords: Women, Art, Feminism Eksistensialis, Simone de Beauvoir.

Abstract: Women in partiarchy culture have difficulty expressing their hearts because in the culture of partiarchy the

existing social community is based on the viewpoint of men and women as those who must carry good values

in society make women difficult and even unwilling to express their heart . Art has the flexibility to convey

that cannot be conveyed. This study aims to look at the ways women artists use art as a way of conveying that

cannot be conveyed. The object of this research is the artwork of women artists. The analysis was carried out

by the perspective of eksistensialis Simone de Beavoir feminism. The results of the study show (1) that women

find it difficult to express their heart because partiarchy culture (2) art has the flexibility to express

unexplained (3) women can express their heart through art.

1 INTRODUCTION

In the culture of partiarchy women are regarded as

second beings and as complementary. The truth

conveyed by women is often regarded as irrelevant

truth because women are identified as thinking with

feelings while men think logically. The life around

women in the domestic sector is considered an

unimportant thing to disclose. Furthermore in

Javanese culture women are ideal as stated by

Ranggawarsita in serat Candrarini (Irawan, 2016). So

that in society moral values and goodness are

measured and pinned on women which makes them

maintain that value and it is difficult to say the truth

that happens to them if the truth is out of the values

and norms that are in society and is considered taboo.

Women's expressions that are considered taboo

make women become depressed and look passive in

facing various problems. Besides this passivity makes

women in the construction to remain passive and

considered unable to play a role in building society.

Artists make works of art because they are unique and

specific entities, their complexity lies in the domain

of their creation that is related to their lives.

(Prambudi, 2017)

Artwork is a personal expression, still has a social

function that can describe various social situations in

human life. (Winarno, 2007) so that works of art can

accommodate artists in revealing the reality of the

truth experienced in their lives. Art can accommodate

human thoughts and ideas in making this world better

because according to Van Gogh artists reject and

accept the world at the same time, artists try to present

new realities in life that were previously not yet

realized. according to Aristotle art is a catharsis that

functions as a cleanser and purification of human

souls (Albert Camus, 2007).

This paper aims to examine art as a way for

women to exist to express themselves. Because art

has flexibility that can be conveyed in various ways

and forms. According to Heidegger art contains a

tension between hiding and revealing the truth,

revealing and saving. (2016) so that with art women

can exert themselves.

2 CONTENTS

According to Pramistawari women are unique

creatures full of mystery. If likened, they are like a

vast and deep ocean. Likewise with women's attitudes

that are difficult to understand about what they are

thinking, what they want, and how to understand

themselves. Personal women are very unique. If we

cannot understand the character, then we will judge it

as the most complicated creature in this universe. (9:

2015). The public views women as being passive and

not very talkative, but if there are women who talk a

lot, they will be considered strange and aggressive.

Partiarchy culture makes women controlled by the

truth made by men. As in the Javanese society that

constructs buildings based on Ranggawarsita

186

Ramadhanita, S.

Women Art and Its Disclosure.

DOI: 10.5220/0008557301860190

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Interdisciplinary Arts and Humanities (ICONARTIES 2019), pages 186-190

ISBN: 978-989-758-450-3

teachings on Serat Candrarini, namely women who

are faithful, refined in their language, calm in their

attitudes and attitudes, don't say much except as

necessary, always respect their husbands, guard their

husband's rights, are willing to be combined and

precisely have to be nice and happy, good at taking

care of themselves, so that they always look beautiful

in front of her husband, and similar values with this

then women like this are respectable women, no

matter their husbands are bastards or not, or their

husbands have ten concubines or thirty concubines ,

patient and yielding, full of love and not complaining,

being smooth and looking beautiful. (Irawan, 20:

2016) further in the portrayal of women by Kartini "A

Javanese girl is a gem, quiet, unmoving like a wooden

doll; talk only when you really need to in a whispering

voice, even if the ant can't hear it; it goes hand in hand

like a snail; smooth terawaw without sound, without

opening lips; It's really bad if the teeth look like

badgers. (Irawan, 20: 2016). Women who have been

associated and constructed in the first place make

women embarrassed and difficult to say the truth that

happened. The problems of sexual violence, rape and

so on are many that are not reported or known that as

a result the woman holds a mental burden and causes

trauma to her. In addition, women who are considered

as the second creature whose opinions are considered

not important, even according to Saadawi, women's

testimony is only half of men's testimony (2001).

Existentialist feminist Simone de Beavoir

encourages women to live authentically by raising

awareness that they are essentially free, not bound by

all existing rules, laws, values, norms and stereotypes.

Art has flexibility and can be a way of liberation in

conveying what is not conveyed in art, there is a lot

of potential, diversity, necessity that in creative arts

requires the flexibility of thinking, courage and

willingness, to look for something unique, unique,

special, to offer renewal, and innovation. (Marianto,

2015). In art women will be able to issue what is

hidden because according to Aristotle art functions as

a catharsis. In the catharsis process there is emotional

cleansing, emotional release, moral-spiritual

purification, emotional education, and intellectual

purification.

Using women's existentialist thinking, Beavoir

explored the root of oppression of women and the

possibility of breaking away from oppressive

oppressions or situations. One of the key arguments

of Beavoir relates to the establishment of women.

(Prambasmoro, 2006). The female body which is a

divine nature and cannot be changed but gender is the

construction of society. Gender, which is a

construction of society, places and positions the

subject with a woman's body with "necessity" to have

the same gender as her body. Gender for female

subjects is feminine. Femininity is not natural and

therefore can vary from culture to culture.

(Prambasmoro, 2006).

In expressing art using symbols that give rise to a

variety of interpretations. These symbols can bridge

women in their self-existence. Some female artists

such as Kartika Affandi who visualized her works in

an expressionist style in the period of the 1990s she

dared to express the feeling of pressure she felt in

facing the issue of gender injustice in her household.

The work series titled Self Portrait (1-7). In the 1-6

Self Portrait work he painted his face white, creamy

and slightly light yellow. In Self Portrait 7's work,

Kartika seemed to have rediscovered her confidence

by symbolizing herself with sunflowers and sun that

showed her father's face. Through the works of

Kartika, it could be captured that the series Self

Portrait 1-7 (1999) was his expression of acts of

injustice he felt by her husband. (Winarno, 2007).

Arahmaiani expressly stated that his works were a

form of his awareness of the gender injustices felt by

women. "In accordance with my capacity as a

woman, as well as in understanding aspects of life

that I will adopt in art, I try to voice the problems of

the oppressed. So from that I presented the problem

using a gender metaphor. " According to him the

pattern of oppression between the ruler and the

oppressed people or between the strong and the weak,

is the same as the relationship between men and

women who are always subordinated. (Winarno,

2007).

Figure 2: Astari Rasjid, Prettified Cage,, (Source: Marianto,

D. Surrealism Yogyakarta, Merapi Publishing House,

Yogyakarta, 2001; Women's Catalog in the Realm of

Spirituality, 1998).

Lucia Hartini explained her life problems in

several works during the 1990s. One of them is a

work titled Srikandi (1993). Visualize the figure of

Women Art and Its Disclosure

187

his waist, against the background of the walls and the

view of the sky and moon. Many eyes watching him.

When the work was done, Lucia Hartini got a shock

in her relationship with her husband, but tried hard to

face the problem of life. He no longer relied on her

husband, he fulfilled household needs and cared for

his own two children. Lucia revealed: "I want to show

that solitude does not need to be afraid in navigating

life. The majesty of God through this universe always

protects us "(Winarno, 218: 2007)

Figure 2: Lucia Hartini, Srikandi, (Source: Marianto, D.

Surrealism Yogyakarta, Merapi Publishing House,

Yogyakarta, 2001; Women's Catalog in the Realm of

Spirituality, 1998).

Then the artwork that depicts the life of women as

in the work of Tita Rubi. In his works he tells about

his experiences as a child and his family. Also tell

about his experience as a woman.

"But things that are closely related to the femininity of

life and death, become foreign in the place where I

recite every evening. The lecture spoken by my clerics

was torturous, full of hellish threats, especially for

women. Somehow women are always said to be the

most sinful, especially if they commit acts of sin. The

female body, let alone the age of being backward, like

it was wrong by itself and will automatically go to hell.

The female body seems to be the source of the collapse

of the faith of all humanity. "(Read by Tita Rubi.

During the master class at the Bandung Institute of

Technology December 2, 2018).

Furthermore Tita Rubi also told about her being

sexually abused by men. Tita Rubi cannot convey this

experience directly, but she uses art as a media to

reveal the truth.

"On the roof of the sea, inside the ceiling, the cleric

asked me to take off my underwear, because he wanted

to see and feel it, he wanted to tell where the source of

the woman's sin was on my body ... filled with

discomfort and confusion, not want to meet because of

disgust with the cleric, but also afraid of my parents

because the recitation is an obligation. "(read by Tita

Rubi When the master class at the Bandung Institute of

Technology December 2, 2018).

Figure 3 : Tita Rubi, Womb of Eros or Desire Production

Machine (Source: Rubi, Tita, Sebuah Catatan)

Figure 4 : Tita Rubi, Bral Geura Miang (Source: Rubi, Tita,

Sebuah Catatan)

An artist who dares to portray the genitals of

women and men in her works is IGAK Murniasih

(deceased). Not to indulge in something

pornographic, but to talk about various psychological

pressures from the problem of sexual violence that it

receives. His creativity makes Murniasih's work

unique, with fantastic colors, unusual compositions,

thus distancing observer thinking about human

genital exposure. expressed, but too painful to feel.

Art work is a therapy for itself to forget the dark times

that have ever been experienced. Through his work,

Murniasih invites the public to be honest that there

are some people who feel sexual violence. It can't be

expressed, but it's too painful to feel. Art work is a

therapy for itself to forget the dark times that have

ever been experienced. (Winarno, 220-221: 2007)

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Figure 5 : IGAK Murniasih, Waiting, 2003, acrylic paint on

canvas, 100 x 100 cm (Source: Catalog of Exhibitions Via

Dolorosa, Nadi Gallery, 9 April - 13 May 2003; Supriyanto,

E. & Bollansee, M., Indonesian Contemporary Art Now,

SNP International, Singapore, 2007).

Simone de Beauvoir revealed that women who are

aware of their freedom, they will be able to freely

determine the course of their lives. (Prambasmoro,

2006) Women must be aware of and do not continue

to be confined to the culture of partiarchy and mass

trauma. Women must be free to express themselves

and be free to be human.

Through art women can express themselves as

human beings, from the art of women they can say

things that cannot be said because the existence of the

hierarchy of artistry and art that they have revealed is

a therapeutic process in their traumatic moments.

Through these catharsis they can cleanse their souls

and minds. If Hélène Cixous is a feminist figure,

asking women to write down their experiences as

women through a literary or language medium, then

female artists must describe it through visual

language with a medium of art. In order for more and

more layers of society to realize about the existence

of female humans who have a role in civilization, and

now the artists have not gained equality. (Winarno,

222: 2007). Art works also reveal truths that have not

been revealed before.

3 CONCLUSIONS

In the culture of partiarchy women become objects

that are arranged so that women are difficult to reveal

the truth that happened to him. Women are

susceptible to sexual violence, rape and domestic

violence but there are still many women who are

confused to convey this problem because it is

considered taboo.

In existentialist feminism Simone de Beavoir invites

women to remain confident that themselves as human

beings whose power is in themselves. Women are

invited to fight in the fight against partiarki. The

resistance is not merely against weapons but rather

about self-liberation and educating the public about

the truth in a partisan culture that is very detrimental

to women and men.

Art is an expression of human life experience can

accommodate women's expressions of the problems

that befall them. Art also functions as a criterion so

that women who experience the trauma of masalalu

life can be gradually cured. Art also has flexibility in

its disclosure because it uses symbols and produces a

broad interpretation. This woman's experience can be

used by other women if they experience anxiety in her

but she cannot express it. Through the art of dark

experience, it will also make the audience who see it

will experience the tragedy and this will become an

education so that the dark experiences will decrease

in the future.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Author expresses his gratitude to both parents for the

experience given. then thank you to Mr. Muhammad

Bayu Tejo Sampurno, S.Pd., M.A as a lecturer who

has guided me a lot and gave advice. thanks to women

and women artists for their artistic activities and life,

which led to the idea of writing this article. thank you

to my friends and lecturers from Universits Negeri

Surabaya.

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