Within every human being there are anxieties that are often ignored.
Anxiety is tucked away among the busyness of daily life. That way, we hope that the anxiety will disappear by itself. Evaporates like smoke. Unfortunately, life doesn't work that simple. Anxiety that we usually ignore will continue to lurk until one day it makes us surrender.
Paskalis Kunang, better known as Mr. Kumkum, actually sees the anxieties that are pressing on him as something valuable. He then turned it into a work of art worth tens of millions of rupiah.
Starting the Journey With Failure
Before his work was invited to an art exhibition in America, Mr. Kumkum even failed to make a statue using clay. At that time, back in 2007-2008, as a student at FSRD (Faculty of Fine Arts and Design), Mr. Kumkum joined the community initiated by Darbotz. He is a mural artist from Bandung whose work is now eagerly awaited by young people in Brazil to decorate the walls of their city.
As students, they actively attended various exhibitions, one of which was Ranger Bastard, which displayed art collectives ranging from graffiti, sneaker designs, to paper toys. Plus magazines that discuss urban art, one of which is Concept magazine, which then ignited Mr. Kumkum's passion for creating character designs.
He started his work digitally. However, after technological screens were no longer able to provide satisfaction, Mr. Kumkum switched to making character toys using clay. However, the toys he made did not meet expectations and in the end they just became isolated memories that were never shown to anyone.
Later, Mr. Kumkum returned to his interest in graffiti and the Darbotz community. For him, graffiti is a work of art whose size has the potential to get a lot of attention. The walls in Bandung and Jakarta routinely become his canvas. Until one day, one of his colleagues held an exhibition and invited Mr. Kumkum to participate. At that time, Mr. Kumkum also exhibited paintings and art toys.
Unexpectedly, the art toys exhibited by Mr. Kumkum attracted a lot of attention, especially from Instagram users. Since then, requests for custom art toys have begun to arrive. Consumers send their art toys from abroad to be custom made by Mr. Kumkum, then sent back after the order is complete. Most of the customers actually come from abroad.
Anxiety Crammed In Fine Art
Mr. Kumkum said that there are various mediums that can be used to make art toys; starting from resin, aluminum, plastic, vinyl, to iron. After creating a 2D sketch, Mr. Kumkum was assisted by a 3D design artist to then create a 3D modeling. He then moved on to the process of molding, recasting, then painting. Sharing his time as an employee at an agency in Jakarta, at that time Mr. Kumkum was overwhelmed. The result is half-hearted.
After he decided to resign and focus on his work, he then received 20 to 50 orders every month. Especially in the current Covid-19 era, Mr. Kumkum's orders are busier than usual. His income also reached tens of millions of rupiah.
However, of course because some countries are currently having problems with shipping, some orders have had to be held up by immigration due to having to follow local regulations. One of them is the art toys that Mr. Kumkum included in an exhibition in America, which was supposed to be held last April. To this day, he is still forced to languish at immigration.
When asked about inspiration, Mr. Kumkum said that every art toy he created was an outpouring of emotions he felt. One of the art toys he included in an exhibition in America was in the shape of a snake. To him, snakes always look calm, waiting for you to approach without being aggressive. But once you are in a trap, you suddenly can't move. He will coil you until you die. More or less, that is what Mr. Kumkum feels about Jakarta.
Mr. Kumkum summarizes similar issues in every art toy he creates. The anxieties he created into art toys have flown him to various countries; Thailand, Singapore, to Taiwan.
Even though he is adept at exploring issues full of meaning, he doesn't think the name Mr. Kumkum is as deep as we imagine. Because his name was Paskalis Kunang Prawiro, at school he was familiarly called Kunang, Kumbang, Kuman, until a teacher called him Kumkum, which is a type of monkey. Since then, he chose the name Kumkum to represent the graffiti he created, as well as other works to this day.
Art toy created by Mr. The majority of Kumkum was inspired by the outpouring of emotions he felt.
Exploration Is Key
Mr. Kumkum also shared his success tips for young artists who are interested in choosing the same path he chose. He believes that failure should not stop one from continuing to explore. When the work we create has not received attention or appreciation, it is the right time to continue exploring. Because the universe has planned a way for a great work at the right time. So, we should not stop halfway.
Exploring means simultaneously crossing genres in art. It is a term in which we marry the world in circulation. We don't need to focus only on art toys. "Combine several art genres at once and find your authentic identity," said Mr. Kumkum.
Apart from that, personal management is also a very important aspect. That is something he is still learning now. Our ability to manage ideas, time, abilities and business strategies will help us achieve success. These are elements that we must consistently apply and cannot be separated.
In the future, apart from continuing to collaborate with other musicians and expanding into automotive design, Mr. Kumkum hopes that he can also create his own figures to make authentic works, no longer custom-made. Like the character KLAWS, a robot with the letter X adorning a pair of eyeballs, which is Mr. Kumkum's dream character so far.
Learning from Mr. Kumkum, maybe now is the time for us to stop ignoring the anxieties that run through us. If we can also convert it into a work of art, wouldn't it be good if in the end we also benefit from it? Find other inspiring stories that we have summarized on KARENA.ID.