Resatio Adi Putra: “It’s ok to have an idea crisis as an artist”
Resatio Adi Putra, better known as Tio, is an Indonesian collage artist based in Sydney, Australia. Tio was a law school graduate from Padjadjaran University and had been interested in the art world since 2008. He turned to collage art after being bored with the graphic design field. Mark Weaver inspired Tio to be a collage artist in 2010; the 34-year-old has an impeccable journey in the art stream. “At first, I thought collage art is another form of a scrapbook, and I thought it was so interesting, that’s why I love it,” he said. Collage art consisted of a few images, found objects that merged into a new visual form. Artists like Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque had experimented with collage art before. Some psychologists even used collage art to help their patients expressing themselves. The collage art form has catapulted his name into the contemporary art world, right now, Tio has at least ten thousand followers on Instagram.
Throughout his career, Tio has published his art book, “Your Nightmare: An Exquisite Corpse Collage Book,” and joined numerous exhibitions in Australia, Japan, and Singapore; he even won an award. In 2017, Tio received a Judges Awards from an exhibition called Unknown Asia in Japan. Other than being a collage artist, Tio is also known for his hobby for photography. “I actually, I was part of a photography exhibition for once, because I believe that at that time, the best way to give my messages were through photos,” he said.
Tips on using images found on the internet
Tio shared that collage artists must be cautious about using the images on the internet. He shared several ways on how to avoid copyright issues for collage artists to use images on the internet. Tio mostly used images on public domain or vintage photos that had no copyright claim. Secondly, Tio used only a small part of the image, and third, he deconstructed most of the image before reconstructing it back. People could spot Tio’s art piece from his vintage style, as he found that vintage images were able to create mysterious imagery. “I used a lot of vintage images or images that were already part of the public domain to avoid copyright infringement,” he said. However, his career wasn’t as easy as everybody thought; it took time, and he shared his struggles with his idea crisis.
Keep practicing to find your style
As an artist, it’s essential to have a style that’s different from anybody else, Tio shared that it took a while for him to acknowledge his style. During his early work, Tio said that Mark Weaver’s style influenced him a lot, he did more experiments to find his own style. “Some of my first pieces resembled Mark Weaver’s piece a lot,” he said. “But I think you need to keep on practicing to find your style,” Tio imposed. His ideas mostly came from movies, music, or given the given theme on the project that he is working on. One of his favourite themes is approaching social issues that happened in society, even his personal feelings. “Melting Faces” was the piece when Tio experienced burnout from life; the piece showcased faces of the animals melted. The melting face could represent the tiredness or stress of Tio’s mind, but as the artist, Tio let his audience use their imagination or thinking. “I think it would not be fun if I explained every single meaning of my illustrations and collage, I let my audience interpret the piece,” he said. Moreover, he would love that his audience appreciates his work as a body piece of work rather than interpreting his arts per piece.
Be honest with your creative process
“Actually, in the last two years, I’ve been less productive, right now, I’m trying to find my way back to make more collages,” he said. In the last two years, Tio said that he experienced an artist’s block, also known as a period where an artist could not access their creativity. Even research tried to help artists to escape the artist’s block through disco music, but Tio shared that it is part of the cycle. “I think it’s part of the cycle, it’s been two years since I experienced this way, but I want to restart my art again,” he implied. Tio noted that those who experienced an idea crisis should embrace the state and do things that they love the most. “Don’t be in denial, if you have an idea crisis, just embrace it,” he said. But that did not stop him from continuing his passion for college. Recently, Tio joined Arisan Karya, conducted by Museum MACAN – the first modern art museum in Indonesia which has held several international exhibitions including Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Room. Furthermore, Tio will join Binatang Press’ Zine, which will feature works from photographers, illustrators, and other Indonesian artists. Check out his portfolio and more works at resatio.com.
Writer: Yohana Belinda/Editor: Novita Widia
Documentation: Resatio Adi Putra
