Idas Losin

Idas Losin is a contemporary Taiwanese Indigenous artist. She grew up in a mountain village in Taiwan, with a father from the Atayal tribe and a mother from the Truku tribe. After graduating from junior high school, she moved to Taipei. Initially, she had no plans for further education, but with encouragement from her pastor, she attended the National Fu-Hsin Senior High School of Arts and Crafts and later earned a degree from Taipei National University of the Arts, building a strong foundation in painting.

After graduation, Losin traveled to Australia, where she visited various galleries and was exposed to a broader range of artistic styles. She was particularly drawn to Australian Aboriginal bark paintings and their use of natural pigments to reflect the colors of the land. This experience sparked a question for her: “What is Taiwanese Indigenous art, and where can I find it?”

Upon returning to Taiwan, she decided to begin her artistic journey by exploring her own heritage. She visited the Atayal and Truku tribal communities, documenting the life stories of elders and their reflections on tribal history, which she then expressed in her paintings. In the years that followed, she focused her work on her own life and lineage, expressing her life philosophy and passion for her culture.

Losin’s art seeks to capture the inner spirit and meaning of key cultural concepts from the Atayal and Truku tribes, such as:

• Ptasan (facial tattoos)

• Tminun (weaving)

• Gaga/Gaya (tribal rules and social norms)

• Tminun Utux (spiritual weaving, or “the weaving of spirits”)

Although she herself is not a weaver, she translates the “language” of traditional weaving patterns onto her canvases. These intricate patterns have become the visual vocabulary she uses to explore her own life experiences and cultural identity.