VANTA - Tristesse

“Tristesse” (2026)
Oil on canvas
175 x 140 cm
Masks fill the canvas entirely - overlapping, pressing against one another, each face angled differently as they accumulate across the surface. They emerge from a single deep blue foundation through paint removal, their hollow eyes and slack features carved from the same color that surrounds them. No two carry quite the same expression, yet all share a quality of absence - faces without interiority, presence without persons. VANTA has covered the entire canvas with them, leaving barely any ground visible between.
The removal work defines each mask individually while binding them into a single blue field - the depth of each face achieved through how much blue has been taken away, shadow and surface existing within the same hue. Represented by S-Gallery and available on Catawiki. Some tilt forward, some recede, the overlapping creating a shallow depth that suggests accumulation without end, as though the canvas holds only a visible portion of a far larger collection.
The discomfort is quiet but persistent. There are too many faces and not one of them looks back.
Shipping:
The work is delivered without a frame (professional packaging, rolled in a tube). it can easily be restretched by a professional or on your own, this is also cheaper then the otherwise increased cost of shipping when sending paintings of this size stretched
The measurements indicated are those of the painting stretched and mounted on a frame (The actual
measurements of the canvas are larger to allow it to be mounted on a frame 2-4cm thick.