TIDE’s painting and sculpture has one mysterious protagonist at its heart – a cartoon cat. The monochromatic palette used throughout summons a sense of nostalgia, a considered choice by the artist which emboldens his romanced renditions of childhood hopes and dreams. TIDE experiments with depth and scale, often juxtaposing his flat, two-dimensional felines with three-dimensional backgrounds filled with detailed greyscale brushwork. To create the works, he paints with acrylic on canvas and sculpts using vinyl, ceramic and porcelain. Inspired by the modernist French Intimist painters who depicted scenes from everyday family life, TIDE often places his characters in familiar domestic settings. The Pop Art of Roy Lichtenstein has also had a notable impact on his work, along with the Young British Artists and manga by Shigeru Mizuki. TIDE also works within the orbit of Japanese Superflat, a contemporary movement blending ancient artistic traditions with the hyper-consumerist sheen of contemporary urban aesthetics.
