World-class silver designer Nyoman Desak Suarti dreams of passing on his skills in designing silver jewelry decorated with Indonesian motifs to the younger generation through education.
“I want to create a jewelry school, how to make it and how to sell it,” said Suarti after the launch of the biography “The Warrior Daughter” in Jakarta, Wednesday.
The owner of the Luh Luwih foundation, which is a nursery for playing Balinese art instruments, dancing and painting, emphasized that the richness of Indonesian culture is capital for making jewelry that is popular overseas.
During his two years in the silver business, the artist admits that he has only explored some of Indonesia’s rich culture which is used as inspiration for the motifs presented in his works.
“I have never lacked ideas for twenty years,” said the woman born May 25, 1958.
The blood of art flows within Suarti. His father, Dewa Putu Sugi, was a painter who studied with Rudolf Bonnet, a famous Dutch painter. Jero Gambir’s mother, a performer of Arja, which is a traditional opera drama.
Little Suarti lives in Pengosekan, Gianyar, Bali. Since he was young, he was taught to dance by his grandmother Jero Nesa, a first generation legong dancer. Suarti’s Balinese dance skills have taken her around the world as a teacher in several countries, such as Australia and Singapore.
Suarti had the opportunity to live in New York where she decided to study design at New York University, the starting point of her career as a silversmith who penetrated the international market.
Suarti’s life story was immortalized in the form of a biography by Happy Salma entitled “The Warrior Daughter” which was launched at the Indonesia Kaya Gallery, Jakarta, Wednesday.