Rotterdam Cool Utrecht Afternoon

The Process

To start my process I usually choose a time of day when the sunshine is really strong. I look for bright colour boards, such as a red brick wall or a blue window frame with contrasting curtains, and take a picture of it with my phone. The original photo can be really plain. Then I add the colour myself because I can already imagine what it would look like in the painting. In some works I have removed the letters of logos and restaurant names from the windows. It draws too much attention to the words. My paintings are recognizable, but not always true to reality. Otherwise, what is the difference between painting and photography?

With my paintings, I want to give back some happiness by highlighting the beauty of details around us.

The Studio

My studio is quite small so I try to keep this space as organized as possible. That is better for my mind. If I have a painting that I am stuck in and don’t know how to continue, I nail it to the wall. A teacher once told me that a rolled-up painting will never be seen again. Hopefully this way I can look at the works and one day I’ll know what it is that needs fixing. The space also has a strong scent of oil paint, which I felt was a bit too much. I got a plant for the studio that would supposedly take in the toxins and cleanse the air. But so far it doesn’t really seem to be working.

The Editions

The two paintings I made for the Young Collectors Circle Editions are titled Rotterdam Cool and Utrecht afternoon. These are a part of the series ‘The Shape of Unseen’. The area in Rotterdam is called ‘Cool’ and I thought that was very weird, so I used it for the title. The one in Utrecht captures a moment during a walk on a cloudy day when the sun suddenly came out. I was so intrigued by the way a sunbeam fell through this window and overlapped the chair. Just look at the beautiful way the colours are arranged on a yellow chair and tiffany blue pillow!

The way Dutch people arrange their windows is so fascinating because it considers the view from outside.

Usually I walk along Utrecht, but I’ve been living here for a few years and I start overlooking things. Now I am trying to travel to other cities in the Netherlands that I have never visited before. A new place is always a new view for me and I will very seriously look into every window. The way Dutch people arrange their windows is so fascinating because it considers the view from outside. In the future I’d like to make more paintings of the night-time. Because in winter the sun goes down at 4 in the afternoon. That is also a part of the Netherlands I want to show more.

Bio Tian Teng

Tian Teng (1996) was born in Shanghai (China). She first studied statistics at the university of Shanghai before realising her talent for art, then moved to the Netherlands to study fine-arts at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht, now she is living in Utrecht and is settling into her new profession as an artist. In her recent painting series 'The Shape of Unseen', she focuses mainly on the daily window scenes that could be easily overlooked and ignored by locals, highlighting the details of everyday life as seen through her outsider's eyes.

Tian's Editions

For the Young Collectors Circle Editions, Tian tranformed two of her paintings from the Shape of Unseen series in prints, produced in an edition of 5 each. After printing, Tian has edited each print individually with oil pastel and oil based colour pencil. This means every work in this edition is unique. The works can be ordered with or without frame. The works are professionally framed by Frame Product in a black frame with art glass (72% UV resistant, non-reflective) and a natural white passe-partout.

You can find "The Shape of Unseen - Rotterdam Cool" here.

You can find "The Shape of Unseen - Utrecht Afternoon" here.