Featured Artist Nicholas Tredway

Vibrantly colorful, large scale paintings by artist Nicholas Tredway immerse the viewer in a world of shifting shapes, contrasting colors and optical illusions. See more of his amazing work by visiting his website.

 

AC Slater

“AC Slater” Acrylic on Canvas, 60″ x 72″

 

I am Nicholas Tredway, an artist in downtown Los Angeles, trying to make my mark in a sea of marks. I want my art to have a voice through color, a voice through form, one through composition, and another through tone.

 

Retrograde

“Retrograde” Acrylic on Canvas, 60″ x 72″

 

I want all of these voices to work in harmony and balance to create an image that cannot be mistaken for the work of another artist.

 

Oedipus

“Oedipus” Acrylic on Canvas, 60″ x 72″

 

Wall power is a driving force in my work. I strive to make art that demands your attention when entering a room, not something that hides itself as a benign cog-in-the-wheel of interior decorating. I want to make huge paintings that occupy an entire gallery wall.

 

Machine Ltd.

“Machine Ltd.” Acrylic on Canvas, 60″ x 72″

 

I’m told my color choices and combinations are bold and I attribute that partially to being color blind. Often times I have to trust the name of the color on the tube or the number of the gray, rather than the look when mixing it.

 

Flamethrower

“Flamethrower” Acrylic on Canvas, 48″ x 60″

 

Dark yellow quickly becomes green and dark orange becomes brown if I don’t remind myself of the color names while working. Grays become tan, light yellow and even pink depending on the contrast scenario.

 

Whitecaps on the Reservoir

“Whitecaps on the Reservoir” Acrylic on Canvas, 48″ x 72″

 

This means I focus on my work harder and on the colors I’m using constantly. I look at my color blindness as a strength that sets me apart, not a handicap.

 

Going From the Went

“Going From the Went” Acrylic on Canvas, 48″ x 72″

 

Influences are all over the place: Atari graphics, the Legend of Zelda on Nintendo, Star Wars, Pink Floyd’s The Wall, commercial manufacturing, Legos, weapons of the Cold War, gray skies, featureless architecture, the suburbs. The list could go on forever.

 

Wrath of Virulent Empress

“Wrath of Virulent Empress” Acrylic on Canvas, 60″ x 72″

 

All my paintings are sad, all of them. Art makes me sad. It makes me sad in the best way. I like to listen to old country songs when I paint. Beach Boys songs about loss and depression let my mind go on adventures, like reliving every moment of past relationships to the current state of things and my place in it. This doesn’t mean I am sad, although sometimes I am.

 

Artist Nicholas Tredway with work in progress

Artist Nicholas Tredway with work in progress

 

I want to someday be a young painter’s hero. I want them to tell me how important my art is to them. I want to hear the things I would tell Jean-Michel and Al Held if I could.

 

Warped Internal Mechanics

“Warped Internal Mechanics” Acrylic on Canvas, 60″ x 72″

 

When I see art that moves me it, vibrates and emits an audible hum like an overhead fluorescent light in a dead silent room. Van Gogh hums. Basquiat hums. Rothko hums. Pollock hums. David Hockney hums. Al Held hums. Maybe someday, my work will hum too.

 

Artist Nicholas Tredway invites you to follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

 

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Comments

  1. My favorite one is Going from the Went. I think that is a hopeful one.

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