The remnants of his bush upbringing are subtly apparent in his large, expressive, emotionally powerful paintings. The outback theme is sometimes contrasted by a sense of urban grit and chaos to further veil his works in an element of mystique. Each painting is a significant piece of an on-going biographical account of de Masi’s life. Some from the immediate past and others travel further back in time to childhood encounters. Colour takes a leading role in the paintings. At times it is decadently slathered on in unabashed portions and in contrast washed over the surface as a thin stain like a water impression which remains almost seeing through to the bone of the raw canvas left in its natural state.