Idas Losin is a Taiwanese First Nations artist of Truku and Atayal heritage whose paintings explore Austronesian identity.

This work focuses on the iconic tatara canoe of the Tao people of Lanyu (Orchid Island), off the south-east coast of Taiwan. These symmetrical vessels, with their distinctively upturned bow and stern, are typically decorated with geometric emblems representing the sea, ancestral beings and the flying fish. Losin depicts the boat at rest, its striped tarpaulin cover parting at one end to reveal a wooden keel and a hint of the tatara’s striking decorations.