Sarawak batik artist stamps a mark in tree bark painting

Ong explaining how he creates a 3D effect on his paintings. — Photos: ZULAZHAR SHEBLEE / THE STAR

KUCHING: When acclaimed Sarawakian artist Ramsay Ong decided to swap batik for tree bark painting, his friends thought he was mad.

Ong was already well known as a batik artist when he began experimenting with bark cloth from the tekalong or wild breadfruit tree, which was widely used by Sarawak’s indigenous people as fabric.