II · The Carved Ground  ·  Reading the Openwork 07 / 14
Principles of the panel

What the cutouts carry

1

Negative space does the speaking

The pierced gaps aren't decoration — they are where the figures breathe, and where light passes through to read the layers behind.

2

Three pigments, no compromise

Orange-red ochre, white lime, and charcoal black over dark wood — the entire palette holds, with nothing borrowed from outside it.

3

The shell eye returns the gaze

Inset Turbo opercula catch the firelight, so the figure looks back at the mourners across the mortuary feast.

4

A frieze is built to be released

Carved for one feast, then left to weather — the panel's authority comes from its impermanence, not its preservation.

This is the Malagan Carving design system, applied by Curio Design — a design-style library for AI agents. Full Malagan Carving guide → designbycurio.com/learn/png-malagan-new-ireland-carving