handmade

Carved by hand, frangipani blossoms form a garland of opulent luxury. Seji Taram shares Bali's lush natural beauty through his sculpture art.

Presented by Balinese artisan Seji Taram, this round relief panel features a two seahorses surrounded by a joyful underwater motif. Hand carved from suar wood, the panel is finished with a decorative trim and signed by the artisan.

Bring a sense of peace into your home with Nyoman Indrawati Subrata's beautifully crafted relief panel. She hand carves the image of Buddha, smiling among a tangle of blossoming lotus flowers, in suar wood with richly realized details. The Balinese artisan from the Subrata Family carries on the wonderful work of her father, Nyoman Subrata.

Presented by Balinese artisan Seji Taram, this round relief panel features a single seahorse surrounded by a joyful underwater motif. Hand carved from suar wood, the panel is finished with a decorative trim and signed by the artisan.

Graceful in crimson and gold, this woman wears the unique headdress of the Janger dance. Nyoman Indrawati Subrata of the Subrata Family carves the magnificent mask from crocodile wood, and paints it with vivid detail as she shares one of Bali's dance traditions. The Janger became popular in the 1920s, as it allows young men and women to dance together. Twelve females sit together, swaying and singing sweetly, while a corresponding number of men execute the aggressive kecak chants and movements of the dance. Eventually, the individuals stand up and perform creative routines, the men generally taking on clownish roles while the women present more provocative choreographies.

A hook on the back permits wall display.

Raising their magnificent wings, dragons face off with menacing gestures. They twist and snap, breathing fire and threatening one another with fangs and nails. Seji Taram sculpts the sinuous images from Balinese suar wood, achieving astonishing detail.

This masterfully carved decorative vase from Sarwaedi of Bali was inspired by the Javanese legend of Naga Baru Klinting. The subtle application of paint and gilded accents give the vase the appearance of a treasured antique.

According to the legend, Baru Klinting was a dragon who promised a sage that he could circle the whole Merapi Volcano in Central Java to prove that he was the sage's son, but failed to do so. The dragon used his tongue instead, which enraged the sage, and the sage swung a sword to cut his tongue. The dragon fell to the earth. Then people living near the volcano cut up the dragon's body and took it home to make a feast. Suddenly, a midget appeared and put a stick in the earth, and said that he would take all of the dragon's meat if no one was capable of removing the stick. People tried because they didn't want to lose their chance for a feast, but none were able to do it. The midget then removed the stick from the ground, and suddenly in that spot water started to flood the whole village, turning the village into a spring that is present to this day. Later on, another sage revealed that the midget was the soul of the dragon, enraged with the people that tried to eat his body.

Balinese artisan Ketut Sudantara carves this highly detailed floral relief panel from quality suar wood with traditional swirl motifs. Working to support his daughters, Sudantara innovates the family tradition of woodcarving by adding colors to the traditional reliefs of Bali.

Inspired by a garden in the shape of a compass, Balinese artisan Wayan Nuliati depicts an eight-petal flower that radiates outwards, representing the cardinal and ordinal directions that point to each corner of the Earth. Wayan exhibits her woodcarving mastery by handcrafting this relief panel from suar wood, etching each detail from muscle memory.

Balinese artisan Wayan Nuliati hand-carves this spectacular relief panel from suar wood at her family-owned workshop. Inspired by the shape of a compass, Wayan depicts an eight-petal flower that radiates to the panel's eight sides, representing the cardinal and ordinal directions.