Art: Tristram Lansdowne's paintings will have you suspending all disbelief

Date
25 July 2013

Every now and then fantasy sneaks out from under the radar and appears slap bang in the heart of popular culture (ahem, Game of Thrones), suddenly making it wholly acceptable to believe in mythical dragons living in caves, silver-haired maidens dwelling in turrets and evil medicine men who are out to get you. In the art world, I believe Tristram Lansdowne is the one fulfilling this obligation.

We featured him on the site back in 2011 but it’s high time to check back into his weird and surreal worlds, with islands floating in the sky and across the ocean, sporting whole complex eco-systems consisting of highly evolved natural forms and carefully crafted architectural structures.

You might almost begin to wonder if these absurd places are real, before you remember that the ocean isn’t a soft, dusky yellow anymore than clouds are pink, and ultimately Tristram’s enchanting fantastical creations are doing exactly what he intends; making you suspend all incredulity and succumb to a magical combination of reality and sci-fi madness.

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Tristram Lansdowne: Axis Mundi

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Tristram Lansdowne: Beacon

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Tristram Lansdowne: Low Pressure System

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Tristram Lansdowne: Natural History Study

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Tristram Lansdowne: The Encyclops

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About the Author

Maisie Skidmore

Maisie joined It’s Nice That fresh out of university in the summer of 2013 as an intern before joining full time as an Assistant Editor. Maisie left It’s Nice That in July 2015.

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