<![CDATA[Studies on Classical Javanese relief art often position Central Javanese naturalism as the aesthetic pinnacle, thereby labelling the 15th-century wayang-style reliefs of Sukuh Temple as a form of artistic degeneration. This qualitative study aims to deconstruct this Hindu-Javanese aesthetic hierarchy through a Critical Art Criticism and Cultural Studies approach. Applying Jacques Derrida’s theory of deconstruction and a decolonial aesthetic analysis, data were gathered through visual observation at Sukuh Temple and archival literature research. The findings demonstrate that the two-dimensional en-profile visual style, the stepped-pyramid layout, and local narratives such as Sudamala and Garudeya are not technical failures, but rather rational idiomatic choices and a form of counter-hegemonic aesthetics. This visuality successfully destabilises the binary opposition between court art (adiluhung) and folk art (ngoko), whilst democratising spiritual authority through punokawan figures and the symbolic exposure of phallus-yoni. As a liminal space, Sukuh Temple serves as an epicentre of epistemic resistance and a transitional bridge towards the aniconic aesthetics of Javanese wayang kulit during the Islamisation era.]]>
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