Contemporary or not contemporary does not depend on such unessential external elements, but depends more on the attitude, approaches, and thoughts of an artist towards what he is working on. If we recognize Pupuk and his way of approaching, studying, and comprehending the subject-matter that he is going to work on, the process is not as simple as what we think. Because he deeply understands what he will paint, then each of his painting has always a quality. He is not the kind of painter who can paint every time or every day. He needs a conducive heart atmosphere and a contemplation. That is why his works are not repetitive or stereotypical. He cannot paint hastily. He can only finish a maximum of two or three oil paintings in a month and not every month he may finish such amount of works. Pupuk can feel and admit if his work fails or less successful and vice versa. Usually when feels successful, it is hard to identify a flaw in his work.

His paintings refer to everyday situations experienced by living humans, ordinary things that we can see and feel, not the supernatural or the incomprehensible. Thus, his works are relevant for all time, including this contemporary age. The thought of Pupuk D.P.'s style has been out of date is wrong. Pupuk apparently has proven himself as a painter that has a firm personality and does not flow with the mainstream. Although so, he is open to inputs and welcomes criticism with a positive attitude. He is not reluctant in changing or even reconstructing his work if, after he gets criticized, he realizes that his work can still be optimized.

Pupuk's humbleness can be seen when I took him and Nasirun to the United States and Europe, visiting famous museums such as Norton Simon Museum, LACMA, and Getty Museum in Los Angeles, Chicago Art Institute in Chicago, Metropolitan Museum, MOMA, and Whitney Museum in New York, Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, Centre George Pompidou, Musée Picasso, and Musée Rodin in Paris, Rijksmuseum, Stedelijk Museum, and Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Kröller- Müller in Otterloo and others. He feels tiny, worthless, and that he still has to learn much. His will to learn keeps him in progress. Thus, the development that he achieves after those visits is very real and may be witnessed in his solo exhibition at the National Gallery of Indonesia.

In the exhibition that carries the same title with this book: Reflection: The Working Journey of Pupuk D.P., we may see Pupuk D.P.'s development in the past ten years. We may see his ever rising curve, that shows no decrease, whereas the phase of being stuck or decreasing is common in the development of an artist. There, we may also see all aspects of Pupuk D.P.. The themes he works on are real but full of imagination, not complicated but rich, various and not shallow. These are the result of seriousness in working. He never works halfheartedly or absentmindedly. He has a great responsibility towards his works and his working process. He does not rely on gift or luck, but he is always painstaking in learning something. He prepares every painting carefully. Before making his main work in oil on canvas, he prepares himself by making sketches, drawings, and often watercolor or pastel on paper. These preparation works have, in fact, become a complete quality works of art.

The qualities of an artist's works are seldom even. The quality of Pupuk D.P.'s are generally good, and very good recently. He is unwilling to release low quality works. If he feels that a work does not succeed, he corrects it if possible. If not, he erases it entirely. He once had a difficulty in making large-sized works. Now he is able to anticipate it. Look at his new work of the year 2005, 1,8 X 3,0 m in size, consisting of two panels, titled A Stop at Wall Street.” If those two panels are separated, each of the painting does not differ in quality with other Pupuk's paintings in common. If the panels are joined together, a synergy happens and gives a meaningful advantage that I consider this work is one of his best.

Seeing his seriousness, I believe that Pupuk D.P.'s working journey will be brighter.