Fishes

The rustic abstraction of Sunaryo's paintings speaks to the artist's concerns about social and environmental issues. No doubt a direct result of his time spent as a student of sculpture at the Bandung Institute of Technology in Indonesia, and later in Italy, Sunaryo's simulation of cracks and rivulets across his canvasses tie his work to an appreciation for the materiality and physical presence of an artwork. Moving away from his early depictions of more traditional subjects of dancers and cultural symbols in an exploration of national identity in the 80s, Sunaryo began to tackle themes of social relevance in his art in the 90s, by depicting geographical and environmental features and elements in his work.
Speaking on the symbolism of colour in his work, Sunaryo has commented that "a lot of these colors come from my inner sense of the moment's impressions, such as yellow during the long period of Golkar Party's ruling; red as the symbol of the Megawati presidency period; white symbolizes the more modern society where transparency is needed." (Sunaryo in The New York Times, 21 January 2008).