Days of Future Passed Raising awareness of marine life
Michele Cempaka
Contributor, Jimbaran, Ball
Days of Future Passed represents an impressive collection of Davina Stephens’ art works, which are a wonderful variety of mixed media. There was hardly any elbow room at the exhibition opening July 30 as the small Ganesha gallery at Four Seasons hotel, Jimbaran Bay, was packed with people. The collection includes oil and water color paintings with collages, as well as elegant personalized black-and-white woodcut prints. Stephens’ work exemplifies how she has seamlessly succeeded in placing one foot in the West, the other in the East. This can clearly be seen in many of her art pieces that utilize beautiful batik, finely cut paper and hints of gold. These delightful paintings tell a story about life in Bali and the rituals that the Balinese regularly carry out as a way of honoring the Gods and purifying their spirits.
For example, “Upacara Pekelem” (formerly Mau Kemana) is named for a special ceremony that Balinese perform to ask the gods for protection. In the painting, many women walk into the ocean in an effort to appease the gods and ask for their protection against natural disasters. Oversized sea shells Balinese life as the painting depicts a scuba diver flying a plane while fish with brightly colored lips swim below Stephens describes her technique as layering, which creates multidimensionality to her work. The painting “Manta” is a breathtaking work of art in which Stephens experiments with woodcut prints in combination with acrylic and collage on rice paper and canvas. The rich shimmering gold red-and-white sun in the fore-ground. A dragon is wrapped around Mt Meru with the gods holding on to the tail and the demons at the head of the dragon. They are both pulling with all of their strength, which results in turning Mt. Meru into a sea of milk. Below is a sea turtle that hints at Stephens’ theme of this exhibit, which is to bring consciousness to marine life. Stephens explores a wide and fish draw attention to the importance of marine life. Other paintings by Stephens are more playful, like Fishing Boats at Grajagan Bay, a whimsical painting in acrylic and ink on watercolor paper. The brightly colored, traditional boats, also known as jukung, sit on shore while a helicopter files above. In Jimbaran Catch the viewer also gets à glimpse of Stephens’ joyful perception of plus the aquamarine sea and outstretched manta are truly captivating.
Finally, when you see “Sea of Milk” you will want to take your time to really take in all the nuances of this incredible painting. In the top is a banyan tree and next to it, the piercing eyes of a tiger. Below is Tirta Amertha, a holy spring in Bali. Mount Meru appears in the shape of Bali, with a bright variety of media in her work, which sets her apart from other artists who are specialists in one or two art forms. She is very honest in her ability to take her inspiration from many sources. From her woodcut prints that resemble traditional Japanese prints to her multidimensional collages that utilize a blend of textures and vibrant water colors, there seem to be no limits to Stephens’ artistic abilities.