Become the Dragon: Myth, Dragon Symbolism, and Balinese–Chinese Acculturation in the Contemporary Indonesian Painting of Guh S Mana

Background. Contemporary Southeast Asian art increasingly reinterprets local myth to negotiate cultural identity amid globalization, yet the symbolism, visual narrative, and cultural acculturation embodied in individual Indonesian works remain underexamined, and no indexed academic study has analysed Guh S Mana’s painting Become the Dragon.
Objective. This study analyses how the painting reinterprets the Balinese legend of King Jaya Pangus and the Chinese princess Kang Cing Wie, interprets the dragon as a metaphor of identity transformation, reveals the forms of Balinese–Chinese acculturation the work expresses, and situates it within contemporary Indonesian art.
Methods. A qualitative single-case-study design was employed. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with the artist and an independent curator, direct observation of the exhibited work, and documentation, and were analysed thematically across visual, narrative, and contextual themes. Credibility was secured through triangulation of data sources, member checking, and an audit trail.
Results. The work does not depict the legend literally but reconstructs it symbolically through a deconstructed, non-figurative dragon, earth-toned palettes, circular and spiral composition, white negative space, and mixed-media materials such as mangrove mud and fabric collage. The dragon operates simultaneously as a Balinese cosmological guardian of balance and a Chinese emblem of cosmic energy and fortune, fusing into a hybrid contemporary visual identity.
Conclusion. Become the Dragon functions not merely as an aesthetic object but as a medium for cultural representation, spirituality, and identity negotiation, demonstrating that Nusantara mythology remains a productive source for contemporary Indonesian and Southeast Asian art in a global context.

Guh S Mana; Become the Dragon; dragon symbolism; Balinese–Chinese acculturation; contemporary Indonesian art; identity transformation

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