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Painting (MA)

Tristan S.F. Gittens

Tristan S.F. Gittens is an American artist living and working between London and California. He has a BA in Psychology from U.C. Berkeley, an MS in Epidemiology from Stanford University, and completing an MA in Painting from Royal College of Art. He was most recently shortlisted for Bloomberg New Contemporaries and has exhibited internationally.

Degree Details

School of Arts & HumanitiesPainting (MA)RCA2023 at Truman Brewery

Truman Brewery, F Block, Ground, first and second floors

ISM

With a background in science and a playful flirtation with physics, my work solves for X. The symbol represents uncertainty and alienation and builds a bridge between the known and the unknown. By dispelling the myth of a binary existence, a spectrum is opened that is mapped in my work.

I work quickly to capture the energy of the moment and the excitement of transformation. Utilizing a free and frenetic style that vacillates between abstract and figurative, I’m able to access a hidden dimension where I become a conduit to ideas, symbols, and emotions.

In my practice I focus my entire being on a grand feeling, something as big as the universe, eternity, humanity, and mortality, a meditation on existence. I apply paint to the canvas and begin dredging, mining, and digging at the surface until forms appear. This process allows the work to surprise and guide instead of being guided. I’m able to tap into something from deep within; something on the visceral level that will be reflected to the viewer allowing them to share this experience.

Was I Screamng
scream
X Detail

Medium:

Acrylic Paint and Oil Bar on Canvas

Size:

175x165cm (69x65in)
stomp1
stomp
X Detail

Medium:

Recycled/Dyed scrap Leather and Acrylic Paint on Canvas

Size:

170x128cm (67x50in)
greedy face
hungry
X Detail

Medium:

Acrylic Paint and Oil Bar on Canvas

Size:

175x165cm (69x65in)
eat the baby
eat
X Detail

Medium:

Acrylic Paint and Oil Bar on Canvas

Size:

165x175cm (65x69in)
STFU
STFU
X Detail

Medium:

Acrylic Paint and Oil Bar on Canvas

Size:

165x175cm (65x69in)
awake
awake
X Detail

Medium:

Oil Paint on Canvas

Size:

250x270cm (98x106in)
Barbados
barbados
X Detail

Medium:

Acrylic Paint and Oil Bar on Canvas

Size:

165x175cm (65x69in)
ISM
ism
X Detail

Medium:

Acrylic Paint and Oil Bar on Canvas

Size:

120x205cm (47x81in)