Ay Tjoe Christine

Jakarta, Edwin Gallery, aku/ kau/ uak, Jakarta, Indonesia, 2003, Taufik Rahzen, 22 May - 1 June 2012

The work is in good condition overall, as is the canvas, which is clear and taut. There is light wear and handling around the edges of the painting due to the basic framing process. Examination under ultraviolet light shows no evidence of restoration. Framed.
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Cheerleader, executed in 2002, is the largest known work by Ay Tjoe Christine from her early period, prior to 2008. Standing apart from other pieces in that series, where structures and edifices or a female figure dominate her oeuvre in canvasses half the size, this work depicts two figures seen through a bird's eye view. Two black spheres – two heads viewed from behind – anchor the composition, while long limbs that stretch out above and below seem to elongate the picture and echo the architectural elements in her other works. With arms up in the air in an act of cheering, the two figures are connected at the top by two hands that are delicately linked together.

Hands are a significant pattern in Ay Tjoe Christine's body of work. Not only because painting it was something that she mastered through discipline and repetition, but also as an expression of her deepest philosophy and character. Cheerleader features this mastery in a grand manner. Rendered intensely with great detail, Ay Tjoe's hands are worked upon, sculptural and constructed, highlighting each groove of the bony surface, reminiscent of the forms and texture of Alberto Giacometti's Walking Man. These are hands that appear fragile but possess strength.

Known to be a woman of few words and an introvert, Ay Tjoe's expressions often take the form of artworks instead of saying them. To the artist, deeds are more powerful than words. In this context, hands are a metaphor for giving, holding, serving, lifting up, comforting and cheering. Cheerleader articulates a hope, that, although human beings are imperfect creatures, we possess the power to continuously improve, and that perhaps the greatest step towards that is to observe our surroundings and help those who are around us. Instead of merely being a spectator, it is within our capability to do more; to raise our hands and cheer others, to serve and not to be served, to constantly work on becoming a better version of ourselves.

 

These are themes that Ay Tjoe grappled with throughout her artistic career and eventually matured in her latter Layer series, which began in 2009. Looking at the artist's works is akin to observing an intimate and personal evolution, a window to the self and to the soul. Within Cheerleader is the inception of something ground-breaking for the artist, and it is thus one of Ay Tjoe Christine's most significant and important paintings.