Indonesian artist. Hansen Thiam Sun, known by most merely as "Hansen," is a deft and unique artist on the international contemporary painting scene, both for his adroit handling of multiple media and for his Innovative approach to figuration. His background and how he arrived at his vocation of art making, is also very fascinating. Born In Toho, Borneo, Hansen was always inspired by the beauty and peace of natural environments, a fact attested to by his bright and tropical color palettes to this day. He had always been enamored of the visual arts-particularly drawing-yet, he also was an adventurer who dreamed of seeking his destiny in foreign lands.


"Social psychology is the name of this game, Hansen exploits the associations we have with crowds and masses, and how they form In urban environments and popular culture…” Having served as an apprentice to the celebrated painter, Lim Ngok Chung, In the late 60s, Hansen went on to study mechanical design In Taipei, Taiwan In the 80s. He later studied In the U.S. After graduating from college in 1984, he worked as a designer and technical drawing special. 1st in Connecticut, U.S., where he also studied yacht design. During this formative period. he was greatly influenced by the architect and painter, Ms. Georgian, from whom he learned about the spontaneity of paint, all the while creating several Significant designs In the boating Industry. He returned to Indonesia In 1990, living In West Java for 13 years until he moved to Bali in 2003. where he has been based since. His painting style is inventive and unique, and his expertise as a draftsman is obvious. Stylistically, his work is bold and striking. He is most noterworthy for his creative approach to mixed media-one that involves using both acrylic and oil paint on the same canvas-a technique usually considered a “no-no" in conventional painting circles. Yet, for Hansen, ever the adventur. ous nonconformist, this new style has led to some surprising and stunning effects.

In his most recent series, In the Crowd, he combines one naturalistically rendered figure with several surrealist minimally outlined figures in the background. His palette is tropical and warm: reds, peaches, limes, lemons, and sky blues. Yet, the central figures that serve as focal points are often portrayed in darker tones, somehow more somber and subdued. This body of work investigates the Social realities of urban youth, who "get lost" In the crowd. Hansen allows these figures to emerge With strength and vitality. while never allowing the viewer to forget their plight. For Instance, In Andai Aku (2009), a large acrylic, on canvas, we see an androgynous downtrodden long-haired youth depicted In blues. grays. and browns, surrounded by seated and standing children executed through outlining and bright colors: oranges, reds, and yellows. The contrast is evocative. While the adolescent figure looks downward and even “cries" (an emotional effect insinuated through the dripping paint pouring off the figure's feet), the children in the background are more ambivalent. Some sit while others stand: some smile while others merely look at the camera. What are they thinking and what is their relationship to this central figure? Hansen poses questions, but leaves his scenes a mysterious riddle for the viewer to ponder, while an overall emotional effect is clear.

Social psychology is the name of this game. Hansen exploits the associations we have with crowds and masses, and how they form in urban environments and popular culture-the city street. the mall the play yard-places for consumption and anonymity. places where we become one of the crowd and search for pleasure, but ultimately, where we become alienated. For instance, In Fur (2009), another large acrylic, we see a somber female teen looking over her shoulder, flanked by male youth dressed in hip-hop attire. She is placed centrally in the composition while the boys are merely outlined, and wearing eye-popping hooded Jackets and caps of yellow, sky blue, orange, and red They are staring at her, pointing at her, perhaps jeering or laughing at her. Is she at school or in a shopping center? Why are they laughing and pointing? It is clear that she feels ostracized, but why? Perhaps this is just human nature, a fact that is most evident during our adolescence. “Everything extreme springs from crowds," Hansen says himself. Indeed, It is this element of group psychology that he is exploring. In fact, beginning With Freud, quite a bit of research has been done on the psychodynamics of groups, large and small. In Freud's Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego (1921). he explores the psychological states of crowds or mobs. He describes the closeness they feel to one another as stemming from their projection of the ego Ideal onto their leader, which In turn leads to the break down of their dependence on their own superegos for a sense of individual responsibility or self-criticism. Members of the mob begin to mutually Identify with each other leadll19 to a further decline in ego functioning. In this state, they exhibit "primitive" behavior resulting from a regression to their basic Instinct drives, a process he refers to as "the herd Instinct." It is this "herd Instinct" that Hansen exposes so skill fully. For instance, in Komunikasl (2009), a two-panel acrylic¬-on-canvas, we see multiple figures presented through two huddled groupings of small children: destitute, desperate, and alone. In a palette of ceruleans, umbers, sherbets, yellows, and greens, these pitiful children crowd together like primitive wild animals. with no adults or families to take' them in and civilize them or love them, all they have are their natural instincts and the "herd" of other children to rely on for love and survival. This is a sad reminder of the realities of many of the world's children to day. It is in this way that Hansen transcends mere psychoanalytic critique to emerge as a social crusader, His Images, while difficult and trying to face, are a necessary reminder of the realities of the contemporary world. In a day and age when so many of the world's children and youths are at risk of hunger and malnutrition, and are crippled-both physically and psychologi cally by war and natural disasters. Hansen reminds us to step outside our own relative comforts and to remember the "little people." His arresting and touching images will melt your heart and change your attitude about the plight of urban youth, and will make you reconsider what you can do-volunteer, reach out, donate, sponsor a boy or girl in a foreign land-make a diference, not just for them, but for our own society here in the U.S. where despite our wealth, We are poor in spirit, something that Hansen's life-altering Images will remind us of for the rest of our lives.