I visited Cipta's exhibition down at the 1st floor of the library!
I really wanted to seize this opportunity because it was a very unique exhibition, one that I wouldn't get to see anywhere else in Singapore.
What I really took away from his work is his distinct personal style. He has a style of seeming unorthodox, mixing solid colors and toy-machine-like structures to build his figures. In many pieces, like the one below, he often used bright colors but juxtaposed them with a black base in order to bring a haunting feel of something deeper and darker than a seemingly bright toy. This is what I found gave the pieces their individuality and unorthodoxy.
I also noticed that with every piece, Cipta seemed to connect with the audience's emotions through his use of symbolism and satire. These were pertinent to a certain culture or group of people who would understand the characters. For example, the "Pink Eagle" figurine was meant for SAS. The Eagle represented the SAS mascot and he spun that into an image that seemed humorous and different. with the "Pig" figurine, I remember Cipta recalled how in Indonesia, the pig has some sort of negative meaning meant to be hurtful and derogatory, but I found it really refreshing that he used that image to connect with the Indonesian audience and bring about humor in a creative way. I think his use of neon-bright colors created that humorous feel.
I also noticed that with every piece, there was always a series or a sequence that guided the audience to a collection. All the mini figurines were grouped according to the intended audience or according to the type of figurine. All the bigger displays had series numbers (like Dollores IX, Dollores X....) and some were even grouped together in the same frame. I asked Cipta about why he chose to have a sense of continuation with his pieces, and he replied that he believed there was more to the pieces that couldn't be expressed with just one composition, and that with a series leading to more, the audience will be able to better understand the type of figure. He believes in showing the SAS audience more variations to the same figure so that we appreciate how different each figurine can be and how they can hold different meanings and emotions despite having a similar shape and size.
Finally, I observed that Cipta weaves emotions into his pieces but in a very deliberate and abstract way. For example, with the above-right piece, I noticed there were many expressions and emotions involved, however, they were portrayed in a unique manner. One of the farther pieces in the group has a robotic figure with a big red heart drawn on it. I think this is almost an allusion to the Wizard of Oz and a play on what certain figures do with emotions, how they handle them. Other figures had a distinct facial expression, with the eyes and lips prominent. The heart, eyes, lips, are all structures that bring about emotion, and by adding those touches, Cipta really draws the contrast between human emotions and robotic structures. He also portrays those emotions so evidently, almost like they were a natural part of any robot.
