Reliëf op de Borobudur c. 1930 - 1940

Adeline Andrea du Celliée Muller made this relief of Borobudur, carved directly into the stone. It's a physical testament to time and process. The monochromatic stone tells a story, not just of the figures depicted, but of the very act of carving. The texture is everything here – the rough, chiseled marks are evident, each cut a deliberate act. It is a collection of these acts that build to the scene. The figures are not smooth or idealized, but rendered with a kind of raw honesty. Look at the way the artist treated the faces, the shallow depth creating areas of high contrast, these areas speak of the effort involved in slowly removing material to create form. It reminds me of the work of Louise Nevelson, whose monochrome assemblages share this sense of layered physicality. Like art making itself, this relief embodies an ongoing conversation, inviting us to contemplate not just what is represented, but how it came to be.