Dolorosa SinagaFaith and illusion

/ THE WORK

Faith and illusion, 2001
iron rods

The social condition of women is a recurring motif in Sinaga’s art, investigated through joyful dancers or, as in the case of the Park, through tense figures tortured by pain.
The central figure here appears imprisoned in an oppressive structure with the features of a cage, whose iron bars close menacingly: this image appears like a painting of human misery and desperation.
Faith and Illusion represents progress according to the Indonesian artist’s point of view, where progress, despite being good for society, always involves a cost: the harmful effects it can have on the social and human fabric in certain segments of the population.
The iron rods used for the sculpture is a clear reference to the negative idea that the artist has of modern technology and a connection between this and the idea of humanity’s progress. In the space specifically chosen by the artist, not far from the path through the park, the sculpture creates an evocative spectacle in a context framed by the lush richness of the surrounding nature. The contrast in colour between the green of the trees towering majestically above the forlorn iron figure and the light shining across the scene gives this sculpture an almost theatrical presence that adds to the drama of its subject.
Dolorosa Sinaga spent three weeks in Chianti when she worked on the creation of the work.