Indonesian Stylish Wayang Figures

Javanese Wayang Stylish Figures

All of human’s characters are resembled in wayang.

Deformation in human figure drawing has been found and practiced by the traditional artist of Indonesia hundreds of years ago in wayang puppet art. (“Wayang” is derived from word “bayang” = shadow).

Although the proportion of face, nose, mouth, eyes, hands, feet and buttocks are exaggerated and deformed, it can still be accepted by public as a result of art. We can still obtain handsome, good, evil, noble, wise or funny characters, which usually distinguishable not only from the shape of the body parts, but also from the color of the face, dress worn, and attributes carried by the character.

This highly stylized form is a result of dominance of Islam in Java in the 15th century which averted images in natural human form. And as a result of Islamic influence also that wayang has developed to its rich ornamental format which let the light of the fire in wayang puppet show goes through the figures and achieves more beautiful shadows.

The wayang are made from a kind of heavy parchment of buffalo hide. The figures which average around 50 centimetres tall, are tooled and delicately perforated to outline features and dress, and they are painted and gilded. Some of the punches used for this work are very fine, contain a row of tiny dots, less than a millimetre across, placed close together but not making any break in the parchment. The paint used is made from pigments mixed in a special glueso it lasts for many years.

The figures are supported and strengthened by length of polished horn and are manipulated by polished horn handles. The arms are jointed at shoulder and elbow, and are usually the only moving parts of the wayang’s body. The handles for each arm are attached to the hands and hang loose. The handle for the body curves with several bends along the entire length to the head, tapering off to its thinnest part less than a millimetre in diameter in the headdress. The bottom of elongated horn suppport makes a sturdy handle at least a centimetre in diameter at its thickest part below the puppet. The lowest end of the handle makes a point, so it can be stucked into a banana bole to stand the puppet in a still upright position during the show.

All of human’s characters are resembled in wayang. Each ‘personage’ has a character of it’s own. Not just that, sometimes a character are even portrayed differently, depending upon their mood: angry, in love, troubled or happy.

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