Lot 229: AY TJOE CHRISTINE

AY TJOE CHRISTINE B. 1973 ALTER EGO 06, 07, 08 SIGNED AND DATED '03 LOWER RIGHT OF EACH PANEL; SIGNED, TITLED ALTER EGO 06, ALTER EGO 07, ALTER EGO 08 , RESPECTIVELY AND DATED 2003 ON THE REVERSE OF EACH PANEL MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS, IN 3 PARTS each: 45 by 35 cm.; 17 1/2 by 13 3/4 in. (3) overall: 45 by 105 cm.; 17 1/2 by 41 1/4 in.

Beholding a work by Ay Tjoe Christine is like taking a journey through the terrains of her mind. Each plane, layer, crack, line forms a landscape of hills, abysses, plateaus that denote joy, tears, fear, courage, pain and ecstasy. This pattern had manifested from the very beginning, when her works were more figurative as exemplified in Alter Ego 06, 07, 08 (Lot 229, 2003), and it becomes even more apparent in her latter pieces.

Ay Tjoe approaches art with a fearlessness, purity, intensity and vulnerability unlike any other Indonesian artist of her generation. With brutal honesty, she reveals her emotions so absolutely. Undercovering of Us (Lot 207, 2008, illustrated on page 17) and Left Layer and Right Layer (Lot 230, 2010) exemplify the two stages of Ay Tjoe's life. The former, an earlier piece, exhibits two forces that consume her, pushing and pulling at each other, separate yet one. It is full of contradictions: strong and soft, black and white, dark and light. It represents the two sides of her being, and perhaps more significantly, it reveals the dichotomy that exists in each and every one of us. Only, most people keep it controlled and hidden.

Left Layer and Right Layer signifies Ay Tjoe's evolution and the next chapter of her life. Here, the mood is lighter, the contrasts are softer, and more colours are introduced into the palette. Two conglomerations of variegated and polygonal planes fill the left and right register. They are almost completely separate, if not for the two thin tendrils that join them. The layers are shed, paving the way for a completely new rebirth. It appears that as each layer becomes more discernible, so does Ay Tjoe's grasp and clarity of the many facets of her life. She unravels her life story before the world with complete candour and this may be one of the reasons her works are as riveting as reading someone's memoir and as intimate as knowing someone's secret. Ay Tjoe's art reminds us that we are only human: both fragile and strong, passionate and rational, imperfect but willing to learn, steadfast, but constantly changing.