Tyson Skross
In 1988 at the age of nine Tyson Skross moved with his family from suburban Texas to Geneva, Switzerland. Living there, wedged between the largest, most mysterious lake in Western Europe and the Swiss Alps with their historical relationship with romanticism, he witnessed many unusual natural phenomenon. These incidents, which he refers to as “glitches”, opened his mind to the fallacy of reality and also solidified his deep attachment to indefinite geography. His work is as heavily influenced by his childhood experiences in that simultaneously sorrowful and optimistic city as it is by his contemporary American lifestyle. Although his paintings most often depict buildings he insists that he paints places, not things. He claims to be more interested in the intangible aspects of locale than the specific reality of architecture. In his work he brings forward and breaks apart the image in an attempt to expose the fragility of perceived truths.
Tyson's work has been recognized by several notable institutions including the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, The National Society for Arts and Letters and most recently by the Efroymson Family Fund as the recipient of a 2009 Efroymson Contemporary Arts Fellowship.