Indonesia, Bali Art Deco Wooden Sculpture By Ketut Widia

"Bali, Indonesia, Wooden Sculpture By Ketut Widia, Tilem Gallery Mas Bali" Rare sculpture by Master Sculptor Ketut Widia, a student of Ida Bagus Tilem, representing a sleeping corpulent young man. We can notice for this major sculpture the impressive similarity with certain works of his master Ida Bagus, whom he has here literally and voluntarily copied with great mastery, which makes this sculpture truly special. An incredible serenity emanates from this imposing piece, her hair seeming to be set in motion by the wind. It is signed by the Artist; confirmed by the Tilem Gallery workshop (see photos) and most likely dates from the 1970s-1980s. Height: 22 cm Length: 30 cm. Weight: 2,460 Kg Ketut Widia was born in 1947 in the village of Mas, Bali. How does he continue to create such beautiful and interesting works? Besides being innovative, he is an incredibly disciplined artist about time. “Life is work, but work is not life. Even working only eight hours a day, maybe a third of our life, we use time efficiently, the rest we use aimlessly,” says Widia. Widely known in the family of sculptors and sculptors, Widia was introduced to sculpture from the age of six. His early works were mainly influenced by his close environment, the sculptures of birds and ducks. One day when he was selling his work, he came across Ida BagusTilem, who was bathing in the river. “He locked himself in my work and offered me the chance to study while working in his art store. Because I was still in school, I could not accept his offer until 1963, when I finished college at the age of 16”. There were only three other students in the group with Tilem. This started a new phase in Widia's life. He was taught to respect all stages of the creative process and not to take any of them lightly. “In the beginning, I was taught how to sand, cut wood and use carving tools correctly. I was not directly told to make a sculpture. The training was so hard and disciplined, and I was so young at the time, that I would often come home from work and cry. But it also made me more resilient to the hardships of life now.” Visible tears pooled on Widia's eyelids as he recalled the valuable services of his teacher who, while often critical of his work, always remained highly respected. Critics, on the other hand, haven't stopped Widia from a growing desire to experiment and continually advance her skills. Compared to the works of some sculptors of the time, who were inclined to incorporate a lot of decorative detail, Widia boldly brought forward dreamlike elements of reality in his work "Hidup dari kehidupan" (living from life), in 1967 Roots as a medium, which at the time was rarely used by sculptors, Widia wanted to spread awareness and understanding of what is important for us to do in this lifetime. In 1984, Widia started coloring his works, before other artists did. Today, Widia is known as an artist whose works are abstract, dreamlike and introspective. In her sculptures as tools of expression, Widia reveals her inner character, no longer just a piece of history from the past or subjects drawn from her natural environment.