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Kadek Rudyana

"My name is Kadek Rudyana. I was born in 1974, the youngest of six children, in a village that has fostered the art of woodcarving for many years.

"When I was younger, I never thought that one day I would be a sculptor. I come from a poor farming family. I still remember the time I asked for money. Instead of giving money, my mother threw a piece of wood toward me and told me to work so that I could have money. I could not blame her for this. It was her way of teaching me to be strong in facing the hardships of life.

"To pay for my own school expenses, I started to learn woodcarving when I was just an elementary school student, together with other children. Times were hard then, but I was strongly supported by my parents who would always say to me 'you have to work hard.' I studied as hard I could, learning from my teacher and asking friends who were already my seniors in carving. And I experimented a lot on my own."