Reclamation is a digital painting created by Samsara Wiropranoto in Maastricht, the Netherlands. The artwork reflects on death, life, and what’s entangled in between.
The artwork shows a girl with her eyes closed floating in a pond. She holds a bouquet of chrysanthemum, a flower often associated with death. In her stillness, she looks peaceful. She is surrounded by lily pads and fireflies. Her death is in no way grim.
I first sketched the artwork to emulate my longing to sink into a pond and disappear. Some days I wish to lay still until nature feasts on my remains. This made me think; why does the bog seem so inviting? Why does the thought of decomposing and being taken over by fungi sound comforting? Reclamation as a piece describes my fascination with the idea that we are all drawn to the natural world, for it is where we emerged and where we will return to. The colors represent how I guess it must feel to be once again one with the ground; euphoric.
The composition is inspired by Wang Meifang and Zhao Guojing’s works. They are Chinese painters who have made many traditional drawings of women. The way they paint women and softly frame them with beautiful natural scenes inspires me. It became my own fantasy to be one of the women they painted. I also took a little inspiration from the many paintings that depict the death of Ophelia, a character in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. She drowned in a river as she was picking flowers. She is always illustrated to be serene; I wanted to capture that in my version too.
Besides not having any paint supplies in Maastricht, I chose to do a digital painting because this medium sets quite a contrast to the idea. I find it a little humorous that yes, if I wanted to, I could go and live in a swamp. But instead of doing that, I sat in front of a computer screen for many hours to illustrate my wish to do so. We all wish to do so many things, but it’s so much more comfortable to be behind a screen.
I am not the only person who wishes to become fertilizer. Escapism and art produced by it is at quite a high. With all the things going on in the world, everyone is trying to escape. 2020 has served us a hot stew of things to worry about. We are all anxious for a moment of stillness.
I hope that the audience can relate to my artwork and find a moment of peace as they view it. May it intrigue them and comfort them. Reclamation presents a topic that is very dear to my art, and I hope to explore it further in my artistic practice.
