Matthew da Silva | Paramontages Visual Art

Born in Brighton, Victoria, Matthew da Silva grew up in a rapidly changing Sydney. He has BA (Hons) and Master of Media Practice degrees from the University of Sydney and lived for just under a decade in Tokyo. He has two adult children and one grandchild. He lives in Sydney.

He started writing poetry in 2007 but wanted to be an artist as a teenager. A timetable clash at school meant following his father’s advice and going to university. After graduation in 1985 he worked at a series of organisations, started a family, and moved to Japan to further his career and find a niche. While there he learned to write for corporate communications and upon returning to Australia in 2001 – a day before the Twin Towers – returned after a few years to do a media degree. In 2022 he started the Eastern Suburbs Art Group with Simon Kahn, and began making paramontages in the same year. “Paramontage” is a coinage attributable to Canberra poet Andrew Adair, a school friend, and refers to a synthetic combination of poetry and photographs.

Matthew had his first solo art show in November 2023, ‘Media of mass psychology’, at Laerk Space. In February 2024 he will have a solo show at Tiliqua Tiliqua in Sydney, ‘Dark alphabet’, and has acceptance for a solo show in Goulburn, NSW, ‘Gold 4WD’ to take place in March 2024. Matthew was also privileged to have had two paramontages selected for inclusion in a show, ‘Under the rainbow, together.’ timed to coincide with the ‘24 Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Also included in group shows in London and New York in 1H ’24, Matthew was an editor of Neos: Young Writers magazine in the early 80s and has written literary reviews for Mascara and Fevers of the Mind. Nowadays he routinely reads poetry at Sydney open mics.

Insta: @matthewddasilva | Medium: @mattdasilva | LinkedIn: matthewdasilva