David Lasisi

Country/Region: Papua New Guinea (view other artists)

Village: Lossu Island, New Ireland

David Lasisi's career as an artist has been distinguished but brief. He comes from Lossu Island in the Province of New Ireland - an area renowned for traditional Malaggan funerary art - and was among the first group of students with secondary education to study at the National Arts School. He enrolled in 1975 - the year of PNG Independence from Australia and, while at the school, was active in seeking to develop a style that resonated to his traditional roots but also to his new persona as a modern PNG artist.

The importance of identity was exemplified in Lasisi's 1978 solo exhibition, entitled "Searching". Deliberately ambiguous, his screen print images included resonances from his New Ireland artistic heritage, as well as techniques taken from a Western artistic heritage. In addition to his painting and print making, Lasisi also worked on a number of design projects run by the National Arts School's production workshop. These included designing the façade of the new PNG National Bank in Port Moresby, the painted façade of the new National Museum at Waigani, and murals for the Governor's residence and the Univesity of Technology at Lae. After graduating in 1978, the artist returned to New Ireland where he worked to establish a cultural center in New Ireland. He briefly studied in the USA as a Fulbright scholar and then entered politics. Although he no longer works as an artist because "if you follow two interests at one time, one will go down", he continues his strong support for PNG art. In 2001, images from "Searching" were included in an exhibition of prints by leading indigenous artists from Australia and the South Pacific entitled "Islands in the Sun" that were shown at the National PNG Museum and the National Gallery of Australia.

biography by Pamela Rosi

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