I Nyoman Suma Argawa
Childhood Aspirations to Become an Artist

I Nyoman Suma Argawa was born into a family of art enthusiasts. He and his two brothers are also deeply involved in the art domain. Similarly, he has mastered some branches of art like painting, sculpting, carving and even dancing.

Since he was 6 years old he has been familiar with the arts domain as he often saw his grandfather painting, making a statue, dancing and singing Balinese psalmodic chant. He truly admires his grandfather, Jero Gede Prawayah Sutha, a famous artist in painting, sculpting, dancing, playing gamelan and singing.
Since he attentively observed his grandfather, the spirit and love toward art was nurtured and grew strong within him so that he then aspired to become an artist, whereas it was very rare that children of his age at Bungkulan village, his home village, had such aspirations. By and large, they wanted to become a physician, pilot and the like. Playmates of his age preferred to play in the orange garden after school. Nyoman Suma Argawa was different. He preferred to use his fingers to scratch out drawings on the ground or on any piece of used paper he found and he would even make a clay statue.
Whilst attending secondary school in Singaraja, Suma Argawa began to show his excellent talent in painting and sculpting. Because of this talent he won some prizes in art competition events. His teachers and classmates admired his skill immensely; thus he was further encouraged to learn more about art and his aspiration became even stronger.
Having graduated from secondary school, Suma Argawa joined a company of sculptors and carvers in Jakarta. For a year, they participated in embellishing the ‘Indonesia in Miniature Park (TMII)’ that was then under construction.
As soon as he returned home from Jakarta, he continued his study at Vocational Traditional Music School (KOKAR) of Denpasar and decided on dance department. Since that time, he often danced at Bungkulan village and its surroundings and he became a winner in mask and jauk dance competition.
In 1979 he left for Yogyakarta to study at the Indonesia Academy of Fine Arts (ASRI), now known as the Indonesia Institute of Arts (ISI) of Yogyakarta. At the Institute, he attended painting classes until the fifth semester. In 1981, Suma Argawa went home to develop his competence in painting and dancing.
Suma Argawa then became a civil servant who was assigned to the Buleleng Office of Educational and Cultural Services. Beyond his activities as civil servant, he also continued to take undergraduate study of law at Panji Sakti University (Singaraja) and graduated with a Bachelor of Law Degree. In 2004, he took a postgraduate study in management at Putra Bangsa University in Surabaya until he obtained a Masters Degree in Management.
In the midst of his busy life as a civil servant, he always used his spare time to create paintings even if only for a few minutes at a time. He told Bali Travel News that to him, painting is a therapy that relieves his stress.
Other than painting, he also actively performs mask dance particularly that intended for devotional service at temple. “As a mask dancer, I’ve got many insights regarding the concept in Hinduism and Balinese culture. They have become my unlimited resources that are later on discovered and poured into painting,” he observed.
In expressing his creative ideas, Suma Argawa often highlights the dynamic and magical motifs of carvings he found at temples around his residence. Figures referring to the concept of Rwa Bhineda (elementary dualism) such as barong-rangda become an important object in his painting. Similarly, the figure of Dewata Nawa Sanga (gods abiding in the nine directions in Hindu philosophy), figures in wayang story, naga banda (serpent), the Kalarau (swelling Goddess Ratih) and winged-lion becoming the pride of Singaraja is never absent from his attention.
In terms of color arrangement, the paintings of Nyoman Suma Argawa tend to adopt the icon and aesthetic of Balinese traditional colors such as the color composition of Dewata Nawa Sanga made based on modern technique and law. Virtually all Nyoman Suma Argawa’s paintings strongly highlight the image of Balinese tradition by presenting the image of tranquility, magic and rhythm in the harmonious combination of shape and colors.
During 1-8 June 2008, I Nyoman Suma Argawa, now 51 years old, exhibited a number of his works at Hotel Conrad Tanjung Benoa. He has often held both solo and joint exhibitions, either in Bali or outside Bali. (BTN/I Ketut Supir)