Etan Pavavalung, a Paiwan artist, was born in Tavalan Community, Sandimen Township, Pingtung County. His art creations range from poetry, prose, reportage, painting, print, carving, advertisement design, installation, and documentary.

Indigenous Land and Name movements in the 90s have enlightened Etan to create arts. He designed the. t-shirt and posters for the indigenous movements with lily flowers, representing indigenous peoples in the hope of symbolizing indigenous identity and the image of indigenous rebirth and redemption. By way of documentaries such as “She with the Patterned Hands,” “Hands that Tell Tales of the Mountains,” Brothers Who Sing of Love and Longing,” “The Fragrant Mountain Winds,” “Mountain Tribe and Sea Tribe,”Etan tries to create an alternative indigenous visual aesthetic juxtaposed with a literary, poetic perspective.

Etan excels at detailed and expressive painting in his visual artwork to deliver his literary views and contemporariness. He developed the innovative visual art form, “Trace Layer Carve Paint,” exhibited at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, and Pingtung Arts Museum. He takes for inspiration the sustainable ‘trace’ hidden in the land, mountains, and nature and the repetitive ‘layers’ of slate houses that constitute the texture of civilization. He then ‘carves’ out patterns and lines with chisels and ‘paints’ with the colors that change with the seasons. His artwork connects with ancient indigenous wisdom and converses with Christian eco-theology while searching for internal harmony and artistic thinking in rebirth.