From Paris to the plains: An artist’s retreat at Lion Sands

French artist Ivan Milisic has been spending time discovering new inspiration at our Artist Residency at Lion Sands Game Reserve. Travelling all the way from Paris, France, Ivan is a qualified architect whose sensitivity to structure and spatial dynamics helps to shape his artistic compositions. Since 2021, Ivan has participated in numerous exhibitions and has been featured in several international awards and publications. By removing the weight of day-to-day worry at our luxury safari lodge, we give artists the rarest gift of all: the stillness to hear their own creative voice.

Ivan's work centres around the meticulous study of hands and the human body, producing evocative and symbolic visions that invite the viewer to interpret the layered meanings embedded in each work. Alive and transcendent, each of Ivan's pieces explores recurring themes of communication, solitude, and the need for belonging. Ivan is also an accomplished musician, teaching classical piano, classical guitar, and music theory at the Slavic Conservatory of Music in Bagnolet. "My experiences in other artistic disciplines enrich my approach," he says. "Architecture, music, and dance inform my perception of space and rhythm, transforming the canvas into a site for spatial and sensory experimentation."

Ivan spent nearly five weeks at the MORE Collection Artist Residence, in the comfort of our luxury safari lodge. Here, every need and personal indulgence is attended to with the care and discretion for which our staff are renowned.

"As a multidisciplinary artist, I've always been fascinated with the interaction between the body, matter, and space," says Ivan. "From the moment I arrived at Lion Sands – through every game drive and animal encounter – my sensation of space and time was expanded. It's difficult to adequately express the sheer vastness of the African experience on a single canvas."

During his stay, Ivan took the opportunity to venture beyond his niche of human anatomy into rich, stirring depictions of the wilderness around him. "This trip has overwhelmed me so much that it has completely changed my process of creation and even the subject of my artworks. My time at the Artist's Residence has opened me to the work of landscapes and abstract art." Inspired by the magnificence of ancient Africa, Ivan's latest pieces include detailed sketches of animal skulls and scenic renderings in vibrant, bold strokes. Through these pieces, he traces the theme of memory, not as a single moment past, but as a presence layered into the textures of landscapes, objects and time.

"For me, art is two things," says Ivan. "First, it is a process of formalising a thought, a feeling. But it's also about raising questions that compel people to think. Art is less of a statement than it is a question, and it provokes viewers to process the subject or theme in ways they would do naturally." For artists like Ivan, what begins as a journey across country and continent becomes a journey inward. Here, every breath and every brushstroke becomes an expression of the stillness and sense of connection that exists within the soul of Lion Sands.

The Artist Residency brings artists into a creative space where they can focus on their craft while connecting with an appreciative audience. A gallery/studio is situated within Lion Sands Game Reserve and becomes home for weeks at a time, where artists, new and established, can draw unparalleled inspiration from their location and wildlife sightings to create new pieces, while also showcasing their work.

Contact morgan@lionsands.com should you be interested in purchasing any artwork from our featured artists at Lion Sands.