Tom Solty German, b. 1992

Tom Solty's work explores the relationship between landscape painting and the realities of modern life. While he is drawn to the peaceful order of landscapes, he also tackles the chaos and disruption that define contemporary existence. His use of the airbrush emphasizes this contrast, reflecting his own feelings of indecision—whether it's about how to start or finish a painting or dealing with insecurity. This uncertainty shows up in the way he creates his work.

 

As he explores these ideas, Solty is drawn to exaggeration, especially when looking at human impact on nature. Over the past two years, moving from the city to the countryside has been a life-changing experience. The move took time and effort, but it helped him reconnect with parts of life that had been distant or overlooked. This shift has broadened his view and deepened his understanding of how we live today. His work documents this change in perception, capturing everyday moments through his phone and turning them into paintings. Each painting acts like a personal diary for him, reflecting his growing relationship with the world around him and himself.

 

Solty's painting process is quick and direct. He starts by sketching the composition with a thick layer of oil paint, aiming to complete the raw image in one day. While the paint is still wet, he uses a large dry brush to blend the surface and create an atmospheric background. A unique part of his technique is using an airbrush with oil paint. He mixes the paint with an organic diluent to make it fluid enough to spray, introducing an unpredictable element that combines the precision of oil painting with the raw energy of graffiti and spray paint. The airbrushing happens a day after the first layers are applied, allowing the paint to stay wet and absorb the new layers. In the final stages, the layering process transforms his paintings into hazy, ambiguous landscapes that carry a sense of Weltschmerz—a melancholy awareness of the world's imperfections.

 

Tom Solty was born in Aachen, Germany in 1992. He studied Illustration at the Academy of Fine Arts in Maastricht, Netherlands between 2012 and 2015. Later on in 2018 Tom Solty moved to Lisbon, Portugal to explore the field of contemporary painting and succeeded his Master of painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Lisbon in 2021. Eversince his studies he focuses on figurative painting with a great interest in oil painting. Meanwhile he lives and works in between Berlin and Lisbon since he started his PhD program in painting at the Faculty in Lisbon.