Post #600505 by Lake Surfer on Tue, Aug 2, 2011 12:41 PM

Lot's of other work going on everyday here, but here is a fun piece I wanted to share here

I carved this piece last week, but painting took a few days to complete. I spent yesterday morning finishing it up.

This is a roof panel, inspired by the region of Lake Sentani, Papua Province, Indonesia.
Papua or Irian Jaya forms part of the bigger island of New Guinea – to the eastern part of the island, is the sovereign state of Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Art forms were shared between the peoples of both sides of the island. Carved and painted plaques like this one adorned the roofs of ceremonial men's houses where initiation rituals were held.

In this piece, the design depicts opposing marine spirits with large-eyes, barbed heads. The serpentine legs of the spirits terminate in fish forms, and other bird and fish shapes surround the figures.

This piece measures in at 33" H x 8.5" W, and is carved and hand painted.