Men's Palm-Patterned Dark Grey and Green Batik Cotton Shirt - Jungle Fever

Artisan Organization: Ketut Suwitra

Country: Bali & Java

Ketut Suwitra was born into a family of rice farmers, their village bordering with a jungle in West Bali. The youngest of four children, he tended to errands with no opportunity for schooling beyond the elementary grade level. Long walks through the jungle fostered in Suwitra a deep appreciation for nature, animals, color, and the beauty of the natural world.

Beckoned by the opportunity for employment, at 19, Suwitra, his brother and his sister migrated to Sulawesi Island. Yearning for his native Bali, he returned after a year to pursue an interest in the local Balinese arts and crafts.

The colorful fabric market of Denpasar gave him a new sense of design and marketing. His five years there also instilled newfound confidence, and he eagerly seized the opportunity to work and design for a foundation in Bali as their boutique manager.

The lure of the unknown called to him four years later, and he accepted a one year work and study program in the mountains of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. He returned to his beloved Bali and soon got back to work. Suwitra designs and creates elegant wearable art through his unique ability to capture nature's beauty.

Suwitra masters batik and silk screen techniques as well as and hand-painted motifs, which he transforms into colorful sarongs, scarves, and stylish, comfortable, clothing."