About the artist
Despite Fr. Tham's busy academic and spiritual duties, He has managed to maintain a constant closeness to Chinese painting, calligraphy and seal carving which he continues to create in his free time. His sensitive, inspirational and expressive artworks have been exhibited in Canada, USA, Mexico, Hong Kong and Italy.
Fr. Joseph Tham, L.C. was born in Hong Kong. An accomplished artist, his interest and talent in Chinese watercolour brush painting was already inculcated from the age of 12. Growing up in Hong Kong, he first studied under Professor Lau Tai Po, the techniques of painting bamboos, a traditional motif in Chinese art.
At the age of 15, he moved to Canada and there, under Professor Chung Ping Kong, he further honed his artistic skills in the tradition of the Lingnan School, a style of painting that takes its name from Lingnan in Guangdong, China. He also studied Chinese calligraphy and seal carving while in Canada.
At university, Fr. Tham obtained degrees in Mathematics and Medicine and practiced as a family physician in Canada. However, his calling was to be a Catholic priest. While at the seminary, he obtained degrees in Philosophy, Theology and Bioethics. He was ordained as a priest with the Legionaries of Christ in 2004.
He is the former Dean of the School of Bioethics at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome, Italy. Today, he focuses on teaching, research and writing on Bioethics and he is also an author and editor of numerous academic articles and books.
