Bio
Tresidder grew up on the southern coast of the rural peninsula of Kernow (Cornish language for Cornwall), the smallest and lesser recognised of the British mainland Celtic nations. He completed his Bachelors degree, with honours, at the University of Westminster, London UK, before obtaining his MFA at Nova Scotia College of Art & Design. Through various artist lead institutions, Merryn has curated and exhibited group shows from Cornwall to London UK, and exhibited in Halifax, Inverness and Montreal since arriving in K’jipuktuk (Halifax). Often amassing in abstract diptychs and polyptychs, his work employs ideas of topography within minority languages, as a framework for decolonizing the language surrounding painting. Tresidder has dabbled with installations, print, film and curation, however his practice centres itself in language. His paintings investigate how colours are interpreted in local environs, and examines how devolving and de-Anglicizing colour palettes & theory, can give pigments a new context. He is primarily concerned with the effect of hegemonic structures, such as 'Art International English', in colonized communities, both still in, and outside of the ‘“United” Kingdoms of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’, and its world-wide Celtic diaspora (including, although not exclusive to Mi’kma’ki). Tresidder’s practice seeks abstract nuances in the description of colour in non-latin based languages, and to combine these localized concepts with his own abstracted ideas.
Education:
2018 - 2020 Masters of Fine Art, Nova Scotia College of Art & Design, Halifax, Mikma'ki, Canada.
2010 - 2013 Bachelors of Art with Honours: Mixed Media Fine Art, University of Westminster, Harrow, London, UK.
Awards:
2021 Arts Nova Scotia, Grant for Individuals (Presentation)
2019 Fund for Creative Excellence, Reznick Family Scholarship
Graduate Scholarship Award, NSCAD
2018 Laurel Woodcock Scholarship
Graduate Scholarship Award
European Regional Development Grant, Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change
2009 Gorsedh Kernow, (The Cornish Gorseth): Best Photograph
Artist in Residence:
2020 Town Council of New Glasgow, Pictou County, NS
2019 Inverness County Centre for the Arts, Cape Breton, NS, Canada
Bibliography:
Glas; Alfred Wallis' New Plastic Perspective, NSCAD Library, May 2020
Venice, Kassle, Cornwall, Self publicised reflections, Aug 2018
Selected Publications [Links]:
Adam MacInnis, The Chronicle Herald, Article, Oct 2020
Sage Sidley, Featured MFA, NSCAD MFA Blog, Interview, Feb 2020
Christiana Myers, Canadian Art, News article, Mar 2019
Rhisiart Tablebot, League of Celtic Nations 'Carn' Magazine, Issue 169, Interview, Dec 2017
Alice Mahoney & Fred Vittie, Everything's F**ked, Exhibition Catalogue, Feb 2017
Alice Mahoney, Inland Art Festival, Featured Artist, Oct 2016
Rachel Coward, Tate Gallery St Ives, Tate Collective Series, Feb 2016
Natalie Lauren Brown, Midsummer Nights: Studio Snoop, Interview, Mar 2015
Selected Exhibitions:
2021 Dowr Koll (Waste Water) - New Glasgow Square Theatre, New Glasgow, NS
2021 Creative Pictou Summer Show - DeCoste Centre for Arts, Pictou, NS
2020 Glas; Alfred Wallis' New Plastic Panorama - Anna Leonowens Gallery, Online, Halifax NS
2019 Not Everybody* Is A Painter - Anna Leonowens Gallery
Woodlands - Inverness County Centre for the Arts, Inverness NS
Fresh Paint/New Construction 2019 - Art Mûr, Montréal Qué
Spring Artists in Residence - Inverness County Centre for the Arts
2018 This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things - Anna Leonowens Gallery
Parallax Art Fair - Kensington Town Hall, London UK
2017 Everything's F**ked - CMR Project Space, Redruth UK
2016 Tosta - Prince of Wales Pier, Falmouth UK
2015 The Clubhouse AGM - The Exchange Gallery, Penzance
Tyre & Waltz - Bombast Gallery, London UK
2013 51 - Ambika P3, London UK
Curated:
2017 Where we are Now - CAST, Helston UK
2016 Prospect - Inland Art Festival, CMR Gallery
2015 Transit MK II - CMR Gallery
Transit - Porthleven Lifeboat Gallery, Porthleven
2014 TAPIOCA - Gallery 320, London UK
2012 Dog Chew - London Gallery West, London UK
Teaching & Professional Experience:
2021 - Chester Arts Centre, Assistant Director
2019 - 2020 SUNSCAD, Student Union of NSCAD, MFA Representative
2019 - 2020 GUNSCAD, of the Graduates Union of NSCAD, Founding member
2018 - 2020 NSCAD, Undergraduate Teaching Assistant, Halifax NS, Canada;
2020 - 'Intro to Painting', studio instruction.
2019 - 'Intro to Painting', studio instruction.
'History of 20th C [Western] Art', Marking & Presentations
2018 - 'Introduction to Visual Culture', Marking, Presentations & workshops
Responsible for;
2015 - 2018 CMR, Cornwall Media Resource, Membership, An artist led initiative in Redruth
2014 - 2017 CAST , Cornubian Arts & Science Trust, Studio at the John Passmore Edwards building in Helston
2009 - 2014 Tate St. Ives, Learning team Peer Leader, St. Ives, UK.
Responsible for:
2012 Engage Project, Learning Curator, Nottingham Contemporary, Margate Turner Contemporary and The Hepworth Wakefield. Working with artist Jonty Lee on a Tate funded research project.
2012 Arcade Gallery, Internship, Old Street, London.
Tresidder grew up on the southern coast of the rural peninsula of Kernow (Cornish language for Cornwall), the smallest and lesser recognised of the British mainland Celtic nations. He completed his Bachelors degree, with honours, at the University of Westminster, London UK, before obtaining his MFA at Nova Scotia College of Art & Design. Through various artist lead institutions, Merryn has curated and exhibited group shows from Cornwall to London UK, and exhibited in Halifax, Inverness and Montreal since arriving in K’jipuktuk (Halifax). Often amassing in abstract diptychs and polyptychs, his work employs ideas of topography within minority languages, as a framework for decolonizing the language surrounding painting. Tresidder has dabbled with installations, print, film and curation, however his practice centres itself in language. His paintings investigate how colours are interpreted in local environs, and examines how devolving and de-Anglicizing colour palettes & theory, can give pigments a new context. He is primarily concerned with the effect of hegemonic structures, such as 'Art International English', in colonized communities, both still in, and outside of the ‘“United” Kingdoms of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’, and its world-wide Celtic diaspora (including, although not exclusive to Mi’kma’ki). Tresidder’s practice seeks abstract nuances in the description of colour in non-latin based languages, and to combine these localized concepts with his own abstracted ideas.
Education:
2018 - 2020 Masters of Fine Art, Nova Scotia College of Art & Design, Halifax, Mikma'ki, Canada.
2010 - 2013 Bachelors of Art with Honours: Mixed Media Fine Art, University of Westminster, Harrow, London, UK.
Awards:
2021 Arts Nova Scotia, Grant for Individuals (Presentation)
2019 Fund for Creative Excellence, Reznick Family Scholarship
Graduate Scholarship Award, NSCAD
2018 Laurel Woodcock Scholarship
Graduate Scholarship Award
European Regional Development Grant, Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change
2009 Gorsedh Kernow, (The Cornish Gorseth): Best Photograph
Artist in Residence:
2020 Town Council of New Glasgow, Pictou County, NS
2019 Inverness County Centre for the Arts, Cape Breton, NS, Canada
Bibliography:
Glas; Alfred Wallis' New Plastic Perspective, NSCAD Library, May 2020
Venice, Kassle, Cornwall, Self publicised reflections, Aug 2018
Selected Publications [Links]:
Adam MacInnis, The Chronicle Herald, Article, Oct 2020
Sage Sidley, Featured MFA, NSCAD MFA Blog, Interview, Feb 2020
Christiana Myers, Canadian Art, News article, Mar 2019
Rhisiart Tablebot, League of Celtic Nations 'Carn' Magazine, Issue 169, Interview, Dec 2017
Alice Mahoney & Fred Vittie, Everything's F**ked, Exhibition Catalogue, Feb 2017
Alice Mahoney, Inland Art Festival, Featured Artist, Oct 2016
Rachel Coward, Tate Gallery St Ives, Tate Collective Series, Feb 2016
Natalie Lauren Brown, Midsummer Nights: Studio Snoop, Interview, Mar 2015
Selected Exhibitions:
2021 Dowr Koll (Waste Water) - New Glasgow Square Theatre, New Glasgow, NS
2021 Creative Pictou Summer Show - DeCoste Centre for Arts, Pictou, NS
2020 Glas; Alfred Wallis' New Plastic Panorama - Anna Leonowens Gallery, Online, Halifax NS
2019 Not Everybody* Is A Painter - Anna Leonowens Gallery
Woodlands - Inverness County Centre for the Arts, Inverness NS
Fresh Paint/New Construction 2019 - Art Mûr, Montréal Qué
Spring Artists in Residence - Inverness County Centre for the Arts
2018 This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things - Anna Leonowens Gallery
Parallax Art Fair - Kensington Town Hall, London UK
2017 Everything's F**ked - CMR Project Space, Redruth UK
2016 Tosta - Prince of Wales Pier, Falmouth UK
2015 The Clubhouse AGM - The Exchange Gallery, Penzance
Tyre & Waltz - Bombast Gallery, London UK
2013 51 - Ambika P3, London UK
Curated:
2017 Where we are Now - CAST, Helston UK
2016 Prospect - Inland Art Festival, CMR Gallery
2015 Transit MK II - CMR Gallery
Transit - Porthleven Lifeboat Gallery, Porthleven
2014 TAPIOCA - Gallery 320, London UK
2012 Dog Chew - London Gallery West, London UK
Teaching & Professional Experience:
2021 - Chester Arts Centre, Assistant Director
2019 - 2020 SUNSCAD, Student Union of NSCAD, MFA Representative
2019 - 2020 GUNSCAD, of the Graduates Union of NSCAD, Founding member
2018 - 2020 NSCAD, Undergraduate Teaching Assistant, Halifax NS, Canada;
2020 - 'Intro to Painting', studio instruction.
2019 - 'Intro to Painting', studio instruction.
'History of 20th C [Western] Art', Marking & Presentations
2018 - 'Introduction to Visual Culture', Marking, Presentations & workshops
Responsible for;
- Delivering presentations, workshops and demonstrations
- General class critiques, assistance and maintenance
- Marking
2015 - 2018 CMR, Cornwall Media Resource, Membership, An artist led initiative in Redruth
2014 - 2017 CAST , Cornubian Arts & Science Trust, Studio at the John Passmore Edwards building in Helston
2009 - 2014 Tate St. Ives, Learning team Peer Leader, St. Ives, UK.
Responsible for:
- Delivery of learning activities based on current exhibitions to young audiences.
- Delivery of school centred outreach initiatives.
- Involved in feedback programmes to Tate directors representing young audiences.
- Involved in exhibit selection representing young audiences.
2012 Engage Project, Learning Curator, Nottingham Contemporary, Margate Turner Contemporary and The Hepworth Wakefield. Working with artist Jonty Lee on a Tate funded research project.
2012 Arcade Gallery, Internship, Old Street, London.
