UNDRGRND - UNDRGRND ARTIST: WICKANA

UNDRGRND ARTIST: WICKANA

NFT Indonesia — May 6, 2022

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MAY 6TH, 2022

Each week artists are commissioned for a piece of art through the UNDRGRND Grant Program. 100 NFTs are minted and are randomly airdropped to UNDRGRND Membership Cardholders. To find out how you can be featured as an UNDRGRND Artist check out our Discord. 

Death has always been an exciting mystery to contemplate and study. It comes like a master thief in the night. It is unexpected and so witty that no matter how hard we guard and defend it when the time comes, it is inevitable that lives will be lost. All living things have an instinct to survive. Naturally, all creatures, especially humans, have a fear of death. This kind of fear develops physical and mental abilities to adapt to the dynamics of life. Humans avoid or fear death because of the uncertainty of life after death.

Life has three main elements: body, soul, and spirit. The body is a temporary container that can be damaged and destroyed. The soul is a unique, dynamic, and eternal inner element, while the spirit is the essence that drives the pulse of life. In humans, death is the spirit's departure from the body, while the soul as a bio-energy lives forever. This philosophy is in line with the law of conservation of energy which states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed but can only change from one form to another. This belief gave birth to the concept of life after death, heaven, and hell.

Looking at Wickana's artwork, the first theme that comes to mind is life after death. She presents a black and white visual mp4 of a girl sitting with her skeleton in a coffin. The girl's gaze wanders. She is holding a white blooming lily, a flower that symbolizes purity, sincerity, and rebirth.

In front of the girl, in Yin Yang's position, there's a human skeleton with the same bob hairstyle and dress as the girl. A rope connects their necks. On the outer two sides of the coffin is a skull, respectively, which emits tendrils from the crown and chin. When observing it, there is a sudden emotional sensation, a sense of deep sadness and loneliness to see the girl sitting in the coffin. Two things: what is not visible from the surface (underground) and that life after death is primarily determined by life before death.

How a person lives his life is like an iceberg. What is visible is only 10-20% while the rest is the underground. Although it is not visible, it is what is in the subconscious that most determines the direction of our lives. Our true self is a record of a collection of sweet, bitter, or traumatic life experiences that ultimately shape our beliefs and perspectives and influence our life decisions.

Through her work, Wickana highlights that life and death are two sides of a coin. Like happiness and sorrow, right and wrong, good and bad, failure and success, feminine and masculine, love and indifference. The monochrome black and white nuance emphasize the message. There are always at least two choices in this life. Is the girl in this work contemplating her life choices? Judging from her sad expression, is there something that she regrets? Is the rope around her neck a symbol of life that traps her, so she feels she has no choice but to die? Or is it a symbol of how she chose to end her life?

This illustration also reminds me of the Death tarot card. Contrary to the common belief that this card symbolizes actual physical death, it turns out that death carries a message to let go of habits or thought patterns that are no longer effective for our lives. Every day is a rebirth, and we have the opportunity to create the life we want by choosing things that bring peace to our souls.

Wickana stirs the viewer's feelings to care about the girl's life choices, reminding viewers subconsciously to care for themselves and others while reflecting on the meaning of life and death. Whatever the interpretation of this work, it is a perfect reflection of how some view life: how we view life will determine our soul's peacefulness and how we will live after I die.

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