Ian DE SOUZA (b. 1939, Malaya)’s arts practice spans more than 35 years. He is experienced in all mediums, with water-based colours and inks being his preference. Ian’s most recent works involve a process of bleeding inks through layers of rice paper, and were inspired by his recent travels to India, China and South East Asia. In these works, Ian is seeking fundamental and ethereal images of the human form through the discovery of ‘accidental’ strokes. His many years of classical training as an artist, focusing on the human form, enable him to achieve this. Yet in many ways, these works mark a departure from his previous works, in that they derive from the classical techniques of Chinese calligraphy and painting, yet remain thoroughly contemporary.

Born in Muar, West Malaysia in 1939, to Eurasian parents – his Indian Portuguese father was born in Goa and his Chinese–Portuguese mother came from Macau – Ian lived in Malaya and Singapore under both Japanese occupation and British colonial rule for the first 15 years of his life. He migrated to Australia aged 16 to join a minor seminary college in NSW where he studied to be a Redemptorist missionary priest. During those four years he painted for the Church, creating massive sacred images for religious ceremonies. He left the seminary aged 20 and went on to study art at Perth Technical College, and then travelled widely, painting and performing as a musician all over the world for a large part of his life.

He lived in the South of France for ten years (1970 – 1980) before settling in Fremantle in Western Australia in 1981. Here he began to focus intensively on his painting, drawing upon both Western and Asian traditions of art. He remains particularly inspired by the seminal philosophic and spiritual writings of Joseph Campbell. His residence in Fremantle is a work of art in itself; its unique indoor and outdoor living space was the subject of the 2006 American documentary film, World’s Most Extreme Homes, which continues to be screened at regular intervals on the Discovery Channel and the House and Garden Channel (USA). This remarkable home has also featured frequently on ABCTV Australia. He and his wife recently purchased a small apartment in Lodeve, a medieval city in France where they visit for three months each year. Following his successful exhibition in Lodeve in 2009, he has been invited to show in Paris 2011.

Winner of a number of awards, Ian de Souza’s work is represented in private and corporate collections worldwide.