Young Dewa hung around his grandfather, carving barongs and bulls from the trunks of banana trees along with his friends while the elder was a work. Young Dewa's counterpart, I Gusti Nyoman Sudara, the grandson of I Gusti Nyoman Lempad, and close childhood associate, who enjoyed similar exposure drawing and sculpting alongside his own grandfather, would also often join the Dewas. The door was open for the two grandchildren to continue the collaboration between the grandfathers. However, while the latter grandson went on to uphold the tradition, Dewa channelled his energies differently. Although Dewa's art does not imminently recall the sacred art of his grandfather, he would appear to have inherited his singular mettle and independent attitude to life. Nevertheless, despite the difference in approach between the two, and the twist of time that brought new materials, new possibilities and creative licence to Dewa Ardhana’s doorstep, there is perhaps more common ground than that which immediately meets the eye:

"Kalau saya, Harus Bali!" ("For me, it has to be Bali!). The subject matter of Dewa’s paintings, as much his colours, remains anchored by his family lineage and strong attachment to Bali. With the exception of his Zebras, a solo inconsistency for the present time, Dewa's more mature paintings which he describes as "abstract or not abstract, whatever anybody pleases to think", mostly revolve around sacred events, or ceremonies that are linked to the sacred calendar. If this is not the case, Bali always remains somehow vitally present, though not necessarily as the corporal presence of a particular island. Dewa’s preoccupations would seem to go beyond the confines of immediate appearance and his paintings are rarely without some brief formal sign: a door, a window, a flight of steps or other indication suggesting the presence of connection, of another world that is implicit. While the grandfather, being master of the formal housing of energies, was more obviously conversant with the intangible since it was his job was to give it a physical channel through a strict code of 'artistic' skill, the grandson is no less vitally informed despite the traditionally unorthodox procedure he puts to work.

Dewa Penangin's art allowed his own personal presence to remain hidden since the beholder's eye was diverted to the object he displayed—that is great art and also an art of self-effacement. But there is a boldness of personal research and self-exposure in his grandson’s art of the last ten years or so that cannot be dismissed. Ever since he went "abstract or not, whatever people wish to think!". He has an intent that is not easily