Klub Kokos

Gallery : Artist Biography

Krishna Sudharsana

A selection of paintings are shown below - select each painting to see an enlargement, or go to Krishna's gallery page to see more of his recent work.

Krishna Sudharsana

Tjokorda Krishna Putra Sudharsana was born in Denpasar in 1956, but spend much of his youth in the company of his grandfather in his ancestral home of Puri Saren Kangin, Ubud. Looking upon art & life as being synonymous, Krishna believes that his paintings are offerings to God because of the need for self-discipline.

Krishna grew up in an environment where art was an integral part of life, influencing him to want to go to art school. His mother advised him against this, however, for fear that he would be poor later on in life. Instead, he went to Universitas Udayana in Denpasar to study English Literature.

In 1976 Krishna chose to go to Australia to gain further experience, both with the English language & with the vastly different 'Western' way of life. He moved throughout Australia, from Sydney, to Adelaide, to Perth & to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, finally returning to Bali where he has resided with his Australian wife, Cathy, & their two daughters since 1990.

In some ways Krishna's return to Bali meant a return to the old bonds of privilege & duty. However, Krishna believes that it is not a birthright which breeds respect, but respect itself. In the past decade he has involved himself much more in the local village community around him in Bangkiang Sidem, opening his eyes to the depth & complexity of meaning within the Balinese community outside the Puri walls.

When he first began painting, Krishna felt a void. Something was missing. Eventually he realised that he was concentrating too much on the physical aspect of the motif, neglecting what was in his own mind. He soon recognized the power of colour in affecting his psyche, & he realised that he must give way to its demands on him.

Krishna is excited by colour & the ways it can speak out on a canvas, & has moved beyond the limitations of physical appearances. To him, colour is more than just light. It is a source of all power & all too closely linked to emotion.

The colour Krishna uses most is yellow, the representation of faith & optimism, the closest to light, the source of spiritual power. It has become central in his search for a style that fits the characteristics of Balinese attitudes & atmosphere.

Balinese culture is full of spirits & magic, of power in the greater spiritual world. This is what Krishna seeks to convey in his works as he draws mystic veils of circles over the images, diffusing them, integrating them with a spiritual force. He has realised the power of an artist to overcome the limitations of time, space & sequence, & now he can show images on canvas that reach beyond the bounds of time & space, ones that both come & go at the same time. These images are an expression of human nature rather than an imitation of its temporal, physical appearance.

Krishna's hope in opening his own gallery at KLUB KOKOS is that through this he may not only have a permanent place of display for his own work, but that he can use this as a base to promote several other artists of this area who have in the past struggled to survive with no local patron to help them. A display of works collected from artists of the Bangkiang Sidem area is planned for exhibition in the future.

For more information contact krishna@klubkokos.com.

Copyright 2001, Klub Kokos. All rights reserved.
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If you require any further information about the KLUB KOKOS Gallery please email Krishna.

This page was last updated on July 15, 2005