I Ketut Teja Astawa

Description

This painting is an imaginative re-vision of the traditional Balinese Shadow Puppet performance, the Wayang Kulit. Western observers might have some difficulty understanding the depth of this artistic form, that is not only found in Bali, but is known in cultures throughout South East Asia. Wayang Kulit is a sophisticated, spiritually infused performance that can take a lifetime to master.

In this more personalized version of Wayang Kulit, the artist has maintained the basic format. The painting is bisected left to right with the two groups of protagonists on either side of a central portal image. The characters are slightly rounded compared to the flat puppets of wayang, but they retain the quality of being fixed firmly to the bottom edge of the image, as seen in a Wayang Kulit performance.