When locals discuss the art of mask-making in Bali, the name 'Sutarja' is usually mentioned. Sutarja, a true master and also a local priest, combined both his skill and the subtlety of traditional mask-making with a fresh eye and profound fascination with the natural wood. He worked surrounded by his twelve children and his wife, who all have learned the craft of carving and painting. Since his death in 2002, his legacy has been carried on by his wife I.A. Madri and their childen and this brahman gallery and shop still overflows with mystical masked creations.

The gallery is full of old and new carvings - it's like a museum and going there to see it, is in itself an experience. Every mask is unique and you will not find another mask in the world crafted and painted he same.

Each artist has put their own spin onto the masks they create so even within the gallery and shop each mask has a different style, pattern, colour choice and 'feel'. It is unusual in Bali for women to become carvers but in this family, all the members are great artists.

These are truly collector items!

I have been purchasing masks from this family for 15 years and have developed a strong bond with them. In all my years of traveling around the world buying goods, I never found any masks that compared to the ones that this family creates. Not only do they carve excellently, but their elaborate paintings are exceptional.

Each mask is a one-of-a -kind.

Artist: I.B. Surya

Courtesy of Beyond Borders and Gayle Felbain.