We recently connected with Danny Setiawan and have shared our conversation below.

Danny, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The series called “my body my story” . It’s series of body painting images painted to visualize the models internal reality which help them embrace their own body and allow them to reevaluate their relationship with their own body. This provides an opportunity for them to redefine their identity and the story that they tell the world about themselves and about their own body.

It started out as a way to push the relevancy of my heart particularly with body painting.

Danny, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was born in Indonesia and since I was little I identify as an artist because I got the positive reinforcement and validation from making art, particularly drawing.

I got into body painting because I was trying to find relevancy in my art. This was 2008, I tried to get into the art business through the gallery route, then decided to also put together my own art shows with some success, but there was something missing. I didn’t feel like my heart was making an impact that I wanted it to make. Then one day one of my friends who was a model asked me to do a body painting peace on her to make her portfolio more edgy. I did not take it seriously because at the time I saw body painting as a gimmick and I ask her if I could reproduce a masterpiece as body painting to see if I could take it seriously. She agreed and that started the journey. It was fascinating to see how the models react to seeing themselves in the mirror with the body painting on them. Naturally because it’s on them they identify with the painting and it’s very irrelevant to them. More over they glow and they feel beautiful. I did not expect that transformation and watching that is very rewarding. That’s what keep me going

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

The biggest thing that I had to unlearn was that art was always about the output and the object produced by the artist, but actually it’s more about the experience and story while creating the art and around the creation of the art. It’s not about the object but about the human experience in the story and the art is just the artifact for the experience. I learned that from doing the body painting because naturally the models cannot keep the painting forever. The ephemeral nature of body painting teaches me that even the act of destroying the art (showering) is valuable and part of the art experience.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is that I could Bring to the physical reality what I see in my mind. In other words I have the power to create and shape reality. This is particularly rewarding when I get to use this power to uplift and empower others. To help them see the more powerful version of themselves by visualizing it in my art.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://denartny.com/
• Instagram: @denartny

Image Credits

Danny Setiawan DenArt Body Painting studio