Skinner Ohrami
Meet Skinner, a budding surrealist artist in the Canggu area.
So Skinner, I know it’s a loaded question but, tell me a little bit about your childhood. How’d you get into painting?
S: Well, my Dad is a painter as well, although his main job is taking construction gigs. I actually didn’t know much about my Dad growing up since he was always traveling for work….
Skinner first started painting in secret during her childhood, knowing her Mom really disapproved of her artwork or being creative in that space. Even though Skinner’s Dad is an incredibly talented artist, she was shunned for doing art as her Mom viewed it as an “unrespectable profession.”
S: I grew up with a chip on my shoulder, always being told I was never good enough, especially when I was constantly being compared to my older brother — my Mom’s favorite.
K: Fuck, that’s rough. I can imagine that it was hard to build confidence too when you had outer influences telling you that you weren’t enough. P.S. I hope you know, you’re totally, more than enough, you’re amazing dude.
She went on to tell me how she always resembled her Dad more and that her Mom had always been perceived as the beautiful one, with lighter skin and a very appealing face. Thus, resembling her Dad more made her childhood even more difficult as he was constantly away for construction projects and she was often left at home with her Mom and brother.
Wow, that’s crazy, how’d this affect your painting journey?
S: I felt really stifled in my hometown, in East Java, close to Surabaya. My art didn’t really take off until I left all that behind and moved to Bali…
Skinner also mentioned how her Mom used religion as a scapegoat for almost everything. Did you crash your motorbike? It must be because you didn’t do what God wanted. You got fired from your job, you’re sick? In her Mother’s eyes, there was no freedom of choice, just the will of God. Although some things are out of our control, after all, we are only human, her Mom took it to another level, one that was not based in faith, but in fear. Skinner also mentioned that in her early childhood to adulthood, her Dad has played an instrumental role in building her confidence and encouraging her art journey.
S: Too often God is used as a blanket, a scapegoat, to do bad things and I don’t think that’s right.
Authors note: Please note I am not in any way saying religion is bad, evil or anything of the sort. I’m simply explaining that in some circumstances it can be used as a medium to cause harm, which her Mother did, in her childhood.
So… how is your relationship with your Mom now?
S: It’s actually pretty good now. My Mom recently even gave me her blessing to become an artist and since I moved to Bali in 2018, she’s been able to see me grow in the professional (art) space and even launch my first exhibit.
K: That’s great to hear! I can’t imagine how hard it was to overcome that obstacle and how good it must have felt to hear her give you that blessing to become an artist. I wish I could just stand behind you throwing bio-degradable eco-glitter cheering you on. “Go, Skinner, go!”
Skinner also told me that she often calls her Dad back home, although it’s weird to see him age since his voice has always sounded the same; even since when she was a little kid.
Can you tell me a bit about how you started out here in Bali?
S: It was really tough! I paint intuitively and had never taken “real” art classes. I started out with this one mural group doing realist sketches and live model drawings. The founder and I butted heads a lot. I wanted to draw what and how I felt — he wanted me to draw, well, the live model, haha.
Skinner goes on to tell me how eventually they found a middle ground — after all, a lot of painting is perspective and feeling; that looks like something different to everyone.
K: You can’t expect a fish to climb a tree nor can you expect an acrylic surrealist painter to sketch traditional realism and like it! Everyone is different and we all learn, grow and respond differently to stimuli. I’m glad you stood up for yourself!
What do you want individuals to take away from your paintings?
S: I want my paintings to make people feel something. Most importantly, I want individuals to realize they aren’t alone, especially when facing mental health issues that don't necessarily show on the outside.
K: That’s beautiful. I feel like when I went to the exhibit I felt that. Not only in your paintings but the other artists as well. There’s something about suffering from the same issue that makes you feel more connected. Thanks for showing your paintings to the world.
Skinner also mentioned that she wants others to know that you can find yourself and your independence through personal struggles; It’s all a part of reflecting inwardly and meeting yourself where you’re at.
What are your current paintings based off of?
S: I paint how I intuitively feel. Quite often I have a specific feeling I want to portray or sometimes I just start painting my feelings. I don’t do any sketches beforehand I just dig my hands into my acrylics and go for it.
Skinner tells me how she wants to instill different feelings into her artwork, explicitly focusing on mental health issues and other hard-hitting cultural topics like religion and self-identity.
For example, in her latest and first-ever exhibition, Stigma (congrats, Skinner!) her painting Mother what have you done to me? Expresses the generational pain we often feel, instilled in us since childhood, which then gets passed down to the next generation if the *shadow work isn’t completed. Her favorite medium is acrylics and she loves doing surrealist art.
So what’s next for you?
S: I’d love to keep going with the Stigma series — the first one was all about mental health but I’m definitely thinking about a few other related topics like religion. I’d also like to help build up the other artists confidence. A lot of them have also been told that art wasn’t a stable profession or that they shouldn’t pursue art because it’s not seen as a professional career choice.
K: Sweet, I can’t wait to see it. I’m happy you can provide a space for other artists to showcase their work! Art and emotion are so intertwined, trying to tell someone their art is “too much” is like telling an artist to paint with only their teeth, with their hands behind their back.
How has the Stigma Exhibition brought other artist together?
A lot of the artist who were featured in the Stigma Exhibition had encountered just that, a Stigma within expressing their art to society. Let’s face it, healing isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes it’s portraying ourselves as a pink young woman in a stifling hot desert to express the emptiness of depression like Geofanny Tambuan did. (Beautifully, I might add.)
If you were to tell something to your younger self, what would it be?
S: Don’t listen to the haters! When I was still living in Java I had a lot of individuals tell me how unstable an art career would be. It was really looked down upon. I wish I could tell my younger self to not listen to all the nay-sayers — after all, what do they know?! I had to embrace myself in order to embrace my art and that meant leaving my old life behind. It actually got to a point where I felt so lost I was just like “THE ONLY REASON I WANT TO LIVE IS TO CREATE ART!!!”
Author’s Note: I loved seeing her face light up when she gave me that answer and I look forward to seeing more of her work in the near future. Maybe at Stigma II, the second exhibition!
So if you were to describe your art to someone who doesn’t know you, what would you say?
S: I’d say I like to create art that turns emotion into a tangible, physical, masterpiece! I’d like to be known for being real. I want people to see the vulnerability and the strength behind that. I want to question the norm and promote individuality/empowerment.
K: Wow, I love that.
Okay, last question, picture everything going just the way you want it. Where do you see yourself one year from now?
S: Well first off, I see myself jumping for joy because I know I won’t be working as a corporate slave anymore, haha! Each day my hands will be covered in paint, every day, all day, I just want to paint paint paint — forever! Full-time artist life! I’d also like to have a few more versions of Stigma; after all, anyone can start something but maintaining it (having multiple exhibitions) — now that’s hard.
K: So you want your art to fully sustain you? Awesome. I think you’re well on your way there! Thanks so much for meeting with me Skinner, I hope to see you at a punk show real soon!
View the Last Night of Stigma
May 7th at 5 pm
Located at Uma Seminyak
View Skinner Ohrami’s work and other local artists at the Stigma Exhibition now, for free! There will also be a gue
Located at Uma Seminyak.
You can also contact Skinner at skinnerohrami@gmail.com
