original sculpture

A slender Balinese woman in a white sarong carries a didgeridoo in this original sculpture from Bali's Made Pastika. The artist carves the statuette by hand from suar wood, an Asian hardwood, and gives it a distressed painted finish to lend it the look of a treasured antique.

A man sporting a mohawk haircut walks with a stereo on his shoulder while listening to music in classic 80s fashion. Peruvian artisan Miguel 'Metal' Mejia designs the original sculpture crafted from recycled auto parts like bolts, screws and more that make it an absolute conversation piece.

Lifting the hem of her wide skirts, a beautiful catrina in blue launches into a sevillana. Maria Lozano in Mexico crafts the stunning skeletal figurine from papier mache, painting it carefully by hand. Lozano designs the figurine after the original "La Calavera Catrina", a zinc etching created by the artist José Guadalupe Posada in Mexico around 1910. Posada created the character, a female skeleton with an elegant hat, as a satirical portrait of Mexican natives who aspired to European style and denied their own heritage. The catrina has since become an emblem of Mexico's Day of the Dead celebration and a popular folk art subject.

Lithe graceful dancers perform the Marinera dance in this vivid sculpture by John Barrow. "It's part of my 'Folklore' series inspired by this beautiful country and its regional traditions," says Barrow with admiration. Originating from northern Peru, the Marinera recreates the sea of emotions surrounding flirtation, attraction and falling in love. It can be danced individually or in couples, and performers hold handkerchiefs in sign of peace. Barrow works with hand-carved segments of cedar, mahogany and ishpingo woods, which he dyes with natural pigments.

This delightful hand-carved wood wall accent from Made Mulyani in Bali is based on the traditional Balinese okokan, or cow bell. The bell was originally created to keep track of cows and repel evil spirits, but is also used as a musical instrument in processions and ritual dances. The demonic and yet somehow whimsical face features crooked teeth, a cleft lip, and cat-like eyes. The dangling tongue serves as the bell's clapper.

This stunning mask of two dancers is created by Nyoman Indrawati Subrata of the Subrata Family. They are costumed in traditional garb for the Janger dance, a popular social dance that originated in the 1920s in Bali. The dance is performed by a group of male dancers, or kecak, and a group of female dancers, or janger. The artisan carves the mask from native suar wood and paints it in colorful detail to carry on the extraordinary art work of her late father, Nyoman Subrata.