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Made Sarna

The creative masks of Balinese artist I Made Sarna were recently featured in Time Magazine.

I Made Sarna, born in 1965, is the son of I Nyoman Suwitra and Ni Ketut Rawit. He had been a painter since 1978, until one day in 1987 when he met an American named Bill Paradise, who introduced himself as a designer and businessman. The man helped Sarna develop techniques of coloring wood using various paints, and his basic skills in art made it easier for him to learn how to carve. In a very short time his carvings were getting better and Paradise began placing numerous orders. Soon after the first order, Sarna decided to open a shop of his own – a place to produce the works and at the same time display them.

Says the artisan, "The key to making a good piece of art lies in its concept or design, how we want to create it. For most of my artworks I combine traditional Indonesian cultures - like Balinese, Javanese, or Lombok - with modern design."