In the Indonesian art community, Agus Budiyanto is a rare artist. He may even be the only one outstanding, namely as a painter totally and truly committed to working with water color on high quality paper of large measurements akin to painters in oil or acrylic kiwari (contemporary).

Water color is indeed a difficult medium often avoided by those who are not "true painters from the heart". They would prefer oil paint, where mistakes or inaccuracies can be corrected by covering the wrong part after it has dried.

In water color, that would be a luxury one cannot afford. In the realm of aquarelle painting - as water color painting is commonly referred to - each stroke or even one single dot, will leave a mark that can never be erased or concealed by an additional layer of paint. The same applies to color. A color once applied can not be covered by another color. The original color will mix with the subsequent color resulting in a new shade on the paper.

Thus, before a water color painter starts working, he must be able to mentally visualize his painting and be confident of his mastery related to form, color and composition.

Water color may be compared to a theater. Once an actor appears on stage, he will no longer have the opportunity of rectifying an error. Therefore, an actor must enter the stage fully prepared and whatever follows must flow from within him. Therefore, a stage performer must continuously practice and rehearse because the stage will not tolerate the slightest mistake.

This is absolutely different from movies. The world of the silver screen offers the actor infinite opportunities to correct a mistake. A scene can be re-taken over and over. Various techniques, ranging from simplest to those using sophisticated hi-technology, are available to reengineer the pictures taken.

This is similar to the world of oil painting. Did you know, that one of our famous hyper-realist painters turned out to have weak drawing skills? To overcome this flaw, whenever he paints, he projects a slide of a selected object on the canvas and then diligently starts outlining the picture.

No wonder that a collector I know, always insists on seeing the first sketches, drawings or water colors of a painting if he intends to collect the painter`s other works. From these preliminary works he concludes whether the painter is a genuine artist or not.

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MEDIUM is the message. Working in water color as a medium requires maturing and ripening of ideas combined with spontaneity. In his works, Agus Budiyanto demonstrates full consciousness of his choice of medium. He ventures onto a journey observing various objects like beaches, harbors, villages, cities, light-houses, coconuts, lotus-flowers, flowers, bamboo, sugarcane, fish, fowl, horses, cheetahs, barong (Balinese mythical dragon), barongsai (Chinese mythical dragon), surfers, saxophonists and dancers. In reality, however, it is not the object itself that he studies, but he captures its essence by transcending into a state of clear serenity. In this serenity, Agus - who is also fond of poetry and music - perceives the mood or ambiance, incorporating movement and rhythm, which he then translates into colored strokes, smooth and spontaneous.

His works reveal that in fact Agus is a painter of the inner (spiritual) world. Observe his similar harbor sceneries depicting rows of boats and the moon, which in Agus` hands become impressions of inner feelings. In one scene, the picture can display tranquility. But on another canvas, the same objects can convey a sense of chaos, happiness, isolation, an outburst of anger, sadness, warmth or coldness.

On one occasion his lotus flowers can sway joyfully, in another these flowers can nod lightly. They can also float in ambiguity, or solemnly stoop in deep meditative serenity.

In his older paintings, Agus often invites us to enjoy large movements, from an wide-angle point of view - which esthetically appear rather conventional. Like for instance the rhythm of the clouds in the sky; the movement of ocean waves; the swaying of bamboo bushels and sugar cane plantations as well as groups of trees in a forest. The swift movement of a cheetah hunting its prey, horses and an oxcart race. Or the winding moves of a barong, the note of a saxophone, a barongsai and a flamenco dancer. Their repetitiveness almost slips into an exhibition of technical skill, giving the impression of routine.

At this stage, Agus no longer takes us on an impressionist excursion of movement and music as in "Nyiur hijau di tepi pantai/ siar-siur daunnya melambai = Green palms on the beach, with the rustle of their waving leaves (well known Indonesian folksong)" - in a far-away time and space. He wants us to sharpen our senses to become more sensitive by taking us only to our own front garden and letting us become a "gading" coconut tree (yellow/ivory colored coconut) standing tall and quiet, intensively taking delight in the dance of its branches and the scraping rustle of its leaves.

And Agus strides even further. In his latest development he appears to underline that he is neither drawing the shape of a fish or a lotus flower, nor painting a barongsai or a wayang kulit (leather two-dimensional puppet used in puppet shadow performances in Java) "an sich", but wishes to paint inner feelings through the movement and rhythm of his brushstrokes and through the musik and dance of his colors.

Take a look for example at his paintings entitled Two Directions, Five Lotus Flowers, Movement of a Dragon or even Legend II, where he appears to purposely cut the spaces inside his picture as if to annoy those viewing his painting as mere realistic painting made for the sake of similarity in form.

But what more creative paths will a man as Agus Budiyanto pursue? Let`s see what his upcoming exhibition will bring.

*The author is an art critic, art consultant and poet.