Soni Irawan was born on 15 January 1975 in Yogyakarta. He studied in the Visual Art Faculty (Fine Arts Department), majoring in Printmaking in the Indonesian Art Institute situated in Jogjakarta, Indonesia. A musician and one of the founders of a Jogjakarta experimental band Seek Six Sick, Soni's art is greatly influenced by the spirit and energy of rock music. His canvases are filled with spontaneous strokes, sketchy figures and cut out pieces, with the medium of oil bars chosen for their characteristic feel of roughness and boldness. His subject matter, however, tends to be largely personal topics that revolve around his family, environment and his underlying interest in capturing the spirit of human survival in everyday life.