Mind Altering Surf Art
The Story
Michael Tilden’s work pulls a neat little trick on you.
At first glance, you clock it as familiar—charged surf scenes, coastal icons, the kind of thing you half-expect to see above a rental couch in Santa Teresa.
Then you actually look. And suddenly the lighting is doing something strange, the figures feel charged, the negative space won’t let go, and your brain keeps circling back for another pass.
Part of that tension comes from the fact that most of these paintings are made on an iPad, with his finger, which sounds like a gimmick until you realize the control is absurd and the restraint is intentional.
This isn’t digital surf art trying to flex tech—it’s painting that just happens to use glass instead of canvas. Familiar enough to disarm you, sharp enough to hold you, and quietly stacked with more skill than it ever needed to show.
