Many would associate Canadian artist Ken Pattern with his intricate pen-and ink drawings of Jakarta's urban villages and scenes in the capital city that are rapidly disappearing under the development drive. But the serious observer would also recognize his love for printmaking and a passion for stone lithography, which is certainly not the easiest form of making art. As well, Pattern is also professional with oil paint and acrylic on canvas, some of which (such as his Garden Wall painting) elicit a stirring of the soul.

Ken Pattern, indeed, has a fine sense of detail and his 'third eye' sees what often remains hidden from the natural vision, at times evoking surreal imageries. Combined with his penchant for precision, such features make his works interesting and captivating. He has lived in Indonesia since 1989, and had his first Jakarta solo exhibition in January 1990, a display of fine pen and ink drawings, lithographs and etchings as well as oil paintings, all of which were marked by symbolic meaning and his preoccupation with the environment.

Dividing his time between Jakarta and Vancouver where he makes his lithographs, Pattern produced 90 pen and ink drawings, 80 stone lithographs, and 50 paintings in the past fourteen years. Considering the meticulous precision of his drawings, the time consuming process of stone lithography, and the fine finishing of his paintings, this is quite a large body of work, and one that is an invaluable documentation of the changing urban scene in Jakarta and a unique capture of its social history.

Pattern's works in CP Open Biennale reflects a return to his earlier use of elaborate mazes to comment on issues and controversial situations. The maze in 'A Map of Java', lithograph 45th edition, 8 x 26 cm, may well refer to the intricate layers of Javanese culture, its hidden meanings and the complexity of traditional values. His paintings in acrylic, however, hint at the barren landscape of the urban city. Oasis, a painting in acrylic on canvas, (61 x 61 cm), shows a mini lake bordered by palm trees in the midst of a vast maze, the shape of which reminds us of the undulating paddy fields in Bali, but may as well be the streets and alleys separating the building blocks in the city. It could also reflect the tangled road to the Spring of Life, the Ultimate Source. City Square, an acrylic painting on board, (61 x 61 cm), shows a bizarre barren labyrinth of streets and blocks of buildings, with sporadic green indicating the changing patterns of the urban environment. The artist's optical illusion and mathematical strength makes his maze work particularly striking.

Ken Pattern enjoyed formal education at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver. As a student majoring in sociology, Pattern's social concerns are finely interwoven with his artistic urges.

Carla Bianpoen

Born on 1942 in New Westminster, Canada.
Studied at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada (1971); Emily Carr College of Art and Design, Vancouver, Canada.

SELECTED SOLO & GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1998 Tokyo International Mini-Print Triennial 1998, Tama Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan.
1999 Malaspina Printmakers Society Annual Members Show, Seymour Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada; Etched in Stone, Erasmus Huis, Jakarta.
2000 Malaspina Printmakers Society 25th Anniversary Exhibition, Burnaby, Canada; "Indonesia Metaphors", Linggar Gallery, Jakarta.
2001 "Crossing Boundaries", NWPC, Portland, Oregon, USA; Group Exhibitions, Newport Visual Arts Center, Newport, Oregon,USA.
2002 Group Exhibitions, Galleria Exposisaun, Dili, East Timor; "28 on the 28th", QB World Art, Jakarta.
2003 Group Exhibitions, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia.

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