Artworks by Tim Trenson

After a career in the world of animation, I decided a few years ago to focus entirely on painting.

In my work, I seek to create a tension between a playful, cartoon-like visual language and more layered, painterly elements.

For me, drawing is a complex, time-consuming, and autonomous process, much like painting. I build my paintings through drawing, working layer by layer with coarse brushes. The process moves between control and spontaneity—sometimes careful and considered, sometimes impulsive and reckless.

My work exists between abstraction and figuration. Rather than thinking in terms of representation, I am interested in figuration as a way of allowing recognisable elements to emerge within the painting. A body, an interior, or another familiar form may appear, but often only as a suggestion, remaining open to interpretation.

A central question in my practice is one of priority: does colour come before form, or form before colour? Does the figure lead the painting, or does the brushstroke itself become the subject? I am interested in the tension between these possibilities, and in the constant negotiation between presence and absence.

My paintings are energetic and often nervous, carrying a sense of psychological tension. Through the accumulation of gestures, colour, and form, I create spaces that invite prolonged looking and allow meaning to remain unstable, intuitive, and open.