Mythology, Inspiration for Art by Jace Hermanto
Narratives play a prominent theme in junior Jace Hermanto’s artistic practice. He became interested in mythology at a young age because of its use of fictional worlds and creatures. While earning his associate’s degree at Pellissippi State Community College, Hermanto’s painting and drawing told stories that allowed him to escape from real-world issues.
“Sometimes my narratives don’t make sense, but they create drama where it doesn’t really exist in the real world. I think that the sort of humanization of the world made sense to me during a time when I was mostly being dictated by my emotions rather than logic.”
As a teen, Hermanto struggled with his gender identity, particularly passing as male. Art and myths provided comfort during his transition and times of turmoil and loss in his family. Through discovering LGBT themes in Greek mythology, Hermanto found an outlet.
Hermanto has continued utilizing themes of mythology in his artistic practice through a new passion—printmaking.
“From an art historical standpoint, printmaking made art very accessible because you can make copies and copies. I know it’s not usually the purpose of printmaking, but I enjoy the variable editions of printmaking, where it’s the same drawing with slight differences every time.”
In addition to the new techniques through printmaking courses, he began to learn about Asian mythology in Lecturer Najung Kim’s Asian Art History course. The seminar opened Hermanto’s ability to learn about unfamiliar myths, but also his Indonesian culture.
“Growing up, there wasn’t a lot of cultural diversity being taught in education, and even my world and art history college courses until recently, only featured small sections on non-Western culture. I only knew bits and pieces because of my background, and even that is hard to recall due to being raised in a mostly Western environment.”
Cycle, Hardground etching with aquatint and surface roll, 7″x9″
Hermanto is particularly drawn to the styles and themes present in Hindu and Buddhist art, as can be seen in his work Cycle. The screen print diptych assignment plays off the opposites of night and day and incorporates images of bodhisattvas, Buddhist deities that embody compassion, and apsarasas, heavenly creatures. In Mahayana Buddhism, bodhisattvas are described as people rather than a specific gender—the ideal figure for Hermanto’s work.
“In my art, I want to challenge people and their views of gender and gender roles. My work features more androgynous figures where it’s hard to tell, but I think that resonates with me and my feelings about gender.”
Hermanto plans to focus his fine arts degree in printmaking and continue incorporating myths and androgynous characters into his narrative works. This past semester Hermanto was awarded the Buck Ewing Scholarship during the School of Art’s Scholarship Day and participated in the Ewing Gallery’s 73rd Annual Student Art Competition.
