Ni Made Suciarmi Gallery
Ni Made Suciarmi
Born: 1932
The village of Kamasan, near Klungkung, is famous for being the home of the most traditional 'Wayang' style of Balinese painting. These paintings usually illustrate episodes from the Ramayana or Mahabrata epics, intended for our enlightenment and deeper understanding of the human condition. The best and original technique uses hand-made paints, from stones and bone; and the cotton cloth is primed with a rice-starch paste before being polished with a sea-shell.
Ni Made Suciarmi is one of the few artists who still know and use the old techniques. She first learned them at the age of six, when she helped her uncle who was employed as a workman on a Dutch project to repair and renovate the Palace of Justice in Klungkung. As a teenager she then became a dancer, which also involves acquiring a good understanding of the myths and legends. After marrying and having her children, Ni Made Suciarmi was drawn to continue painting and now is one of the senior experts in Bali on Kamasan style and its themes.
Apart from the quality of statement of the events depicted in Ni Made Suciarmi's work, one should also note the very fine pen drawing (using Chinese ink and bamboo brush), the subtlety of colour tones, and the very fine borders.