Bio Nana Tedja

 

Nana Tedja was born 1971 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in a noble Javanese family there are so many strict rules, especially for a woman who is not allowed to perform in front of people.

Her Father was the owner of a batik company and her Mother designed batik in there. At that time, everyday she saw this artistic activity as well as hundreds of batik makers and other workers working on the batik procces. From there the artistic process grew, and she became fluent in making hand made batik paintings on small sheets fabric using a canting, untill the coloring process was complete. Then she displayed it as a painting in the displayed room at her Father’s batik company and sold it.

The visitors who came to her Father’s batik company came from foreign countries such as Europe, Japan, Taiwan, Australia and America. Everyday at least 10 buses of fireign visitors came and bought Batik product including her batik paintings. At that time she was still five years old and she was already involved in the process of selling painting directly, interacting with many buyers from various part of the world. Because she often met many people with various characters since childood, it is not surprising that she grew up to be a brave and intelligent person.

As time went by, she often saw her Grandfather painting canvases with oil paints at the Yogyakarta Palace. Her interest in seeing her Grandfather paint apparently became a great painter. The challenge of becoming a great artist was not easy for Nana who at that time lived in environment that did not allow woman to appear as individuals. Even thought it wasn’t easy at that time she continued to participate in several painting exhibitions both group and solo. And she was finally able to take and complete her art education at Postgraduate Indonesian Institute of Art, majoring in painting, Fine Art Departement. Since then, she lived and enjoyed her profession as a full time artist.

As an one of the top artist in her country, one of the most sought after artist in Asia, and internationally recognisend, she creates her own shapes in the objects of her paintings. She even has special names for the characters in her paintings. Then the lines in her work is her habit of painting batik using canting. That's why she like lines in her paintings. She make paintings by stacking paint in several layers with a palette knife, even up to 8 layers. She let the colors blend and synergize without thinking about whether or not they fit together, because she believe that everything will be harmonious and beautiful. For Nana who dares to break tradition but still respects traditional values well, nirmana is only learned in the school and college, but when life is already running, nirmana is only a matter of knowledge, not something that must be done. She like all colors, both full color and monochrome. She not only use brushes in her works, but also use palette knives a lot, so that her works are textured and not flat.

The joy in her paintings is a reflection of herself that life should be brave, confident, happy and do positive things.  Besides paintings, she also develop sculptures. Sculpture in resin, bronze and teak wood.

She have been actively involved in art activities since 1996 until now, participating in exhibitions with galleries at home and abroad, art fairs and others. Her works have also been collected by several collectors from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Philippines, Netherland, Canada, Cyprus, USA, Australia, France, Italy, Canada and Japan.

Award : Winsor Newton Millenium Painting of the World 1999

Educational background: 

Post Graduate Indonesia Institute of Art, Fine Art Departemen, Majoring Painting. 

 

Contac

Instagram : @nana_tedja

Email: nanatedja@gmail.com