“A Day in the Life” with Artist and Teacher Tristesse Seeliger

Tristesse Seeliger is a Vancouver artist. Her multimedia works include collages, murals, paintings, and sculptures. She predominantly explores the ideas and metaphors around mapping as a tool of perception and orientation. In her newest abstract paintings, she explores shape, colour, and form influenced by the pathways water and creatures create on the land. These artworks are colour field paintings that explore movement, transparency, and opaque layers shifting across a plane.

Tristesse hosts an Artist Talk and Assignment series on YouTube called Studio to Studio. In this series, she interviews talented artists who give us insights into their practice and then assigns a creative project. This series started during the pandemic and just kept going.

A day in her life consists of teaching two intermediate drawing and painting classes in the morning at Eric Hamber Secondary School. Then she heads to the studio at The Arts Factory and works on various projects. She is constantly exploring different materials and techniques to develop her professional practice. She has taken multiple courses in woodworking, laser cutting, and other 3D fabrication processes. My mom walks our dog Coco a lot every day. She also likes to cook and bake! Currently, she is prepping her studio at the Arts Factory for the East Side Culture Crawls opening on November 17th through to the Nov. 20th. Go visit her at 281 Industrial Ave.

Written by Sophia Crompton – daughter

Tristesse Seelige
Portrait by Sandeep Johal (artist, studio mate, and budding photographer)
Tristesse Seelige
Flight Plan, Acrylic on Panel
Terra Incognita with a blurred body
Confluence – Painting on Canvas
Portrait by Alex Waber
Hanging a show at the Arts Factory Gallery photo by Robert Wilson
Territory 60 – Map collage, Limited print edition of 20
Tristesse Seelige
Studio Portrait by Byron Dauncey The Arts Factory at 281 Industrial Ave with the painting titled Portal
Tristesse Seelige
The talented crew for the Vancouver Mural Fest wall in Main Alley between 4th and 5th street. The crew is Kat McPhee, myself, Sophia Crompton, and Lindsay Frankel

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Which hood are you in?

I live in False Creek right on the water. My studio is 2 km from my house by the seawall so I walk or ride my bike there very quickly. My studio is in the Arts Factory building at 281 Industrial Ave Vancouver

What do you do?

I am an artist and teacher.

What are you currently working on?

I am preparing for the EastSide Culture Crawl in November and working on a few commissions for private clients. I am always trying to learn some type of new skill or technique both for teaching and my own practice. Lately, I have been using watercolour paints but I am far from confident with that particular medium.

Where can we find your work?

My latest mural, Union, for the Vancouver Mural Festival, is in Main Alley between 4th and 5th Ave. I am represented by Vancouver Art Rental and Sales located at the Vancouver Art Gallery and you can always contact me to have a studio visit to see new work in person. You can find most of my current and past work on my site or follow me on Instagram as I post more casually there.