Lincoln Artist Profile: Nolan Tredway

By Ladd Wendelin
They hung from the jungle gym, some plummeting to the sand below, others swinging from bar to bar with incredible ease. The regular group of kickball devotees changed positions from infield to outfield, appearing only as a blur to the few brave souls who tested their wits and stomachs on the merry-go-round. It was only a matter of time before the teacher would blow the whistle and recess would be over.

Yet in this all too familiar scene, Nolan Tredway was nowhere to be found.

“I was a part of this group of ‘indoor kids.’ We didn’t go outside for recess.”

Some measure success by the longest distance, the greatest height or even the highest score. Others quietly discover their aptitude in the act of self-expression. During his most formative years at Zeman Elementary, Tredway could be found safe and secure in a world crafted by his imagination.

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“We would create these elaborate video games with weapons, monsters, and different levels,” Tredway said. “I wanted to be the best at it.”

Nolan Tredway has become one of the most recognizable presences in the local arts scene. A 2004 graduate of the University of Nebraska in studio art, his efforts to promote the visual and performing arts in Lincoln include curating the Tugboat Gallery and assisting in publicity for the Lincoln Midwest Ballet.

Born and raised in Lincoln, Tredway found inspiration in the pixelated worlds of his favorite videos games, including The Legend of Zelda, and in the highly-stylized street art that decorated his older brother’s skateboards. Looking at any one of Tredway’s paintings, you might catch a glimpse of one of the myriad of bizarre creatures that inhabit Zelda’s Hyrule world, but these are only a fraction of what comprises any one of Tredway’s canvases, some of which have been featured in exhibitions in Lincoln, Omaha and throughout the Midwest.

Junior high can be an awkward period for most, but for some it can also prove to be a time of personal growth. Under the instruction of John Carey at Pound Middle School, Tredway became familiar with the Renaissance masters and their sprawling, detailed landscapes that stretch beyond the horizon, deep into the painting. But it was a chance encounter with a mustachioed Spaniard, also famous for his landscapes, that changed Tredway’s approach to art forever.

“It was the first time I felt moved by art, to know what it meant to be moved by a visceral experience with art.”

This, of course, was Salvador Dali.

High school found Tredway continuing to fine tune his painting abilities, working with acrylics and whatever tubes of paint he could find lying around. However, course work and countless hours in the studio took their toll.

“Someone once told me that you make the best art as soon as you’re ready to drop out,” Tredway said. 

A self-fulfilling prophecy? Perhaps. He got his second wind while studying at the Fundacion y Ortega y Gasset in Toledo, Spain in 2002.

In Dali’s homeland, he met a dizzying array of people and became absorbed in the unique architecture and vivid colors all around him. It’s not hard to imagine how this has affected his work. Tredway’s paintings suggest diversity, ranging in subject from the pastoral to the disquietingly absurd. Even the monsters that inhabit Tredway’s paintings, clothed in impish garb and gazing with their beady black eyes, seem to peacefully acknowledge that although the world around them is filled with drowsy beasts, dead trees and transmogrified beings, there is a certain resplendence all around them. In other words, it’s kind of cute.

This is where Tredway’s work departs from mere fantasy, but it’s difficult trying to pin down butterflies, thematically speaking. Instead, Tredway catches whatever philosophies or ideas happen to be flitting around and uses the canvas to present an argument, to begin a dialogue with his audience.

“I usually start with the things I am interested in at the time, whether it's mythology, history, politics, or a poem. Then I try and dissect it to a few core elements,” Tredway said.

A major theme that persists through his work is the Japanese concept of kawaii. In fact, you may even be familiar with it without even knowing it. Think Pokemon or Hello Kitty and you have kawaii.

“It’s basically the concept of using cute things to evoke sympathy and protection,” he stated.
 
But Tredway takes this concept a step further. In his paintings, some animals exhibit human form and even children and adults all too often assume animal qualities such as pointy ears or fur. Behind almost every canvas lurks a certain inventiveness, a Seussian irreverence, even mischievousness. “Trickster spirits,” Tredway calls them, drawing from myth.

For any artist, ideas don’t always lend themselves to brushes and paints. With this in mind, Nolan has branched out into other mediums. “Painting is my first love, but sometimes I like taking a mistress.” Or mistresses.

And their names? Sculpture, toy design and puppetry, all of which set the scene for MILK, a short film containing a series of sketches where marionettes ponder existential questions, engage in back-and-forths about belief in a higher power, and even make wise-cracks about The Matrix. More recently, Tredway can still be found indoors in his downtown Lincoln studio, working on his next painting or basking in the glow of a computer screen, focusing on his next project, the animated adventures of a group of “ragamuffin raconteurs.”

On Friday, October 2nd, The Public Shoe Store (11th & O St.) will feature an exhibition of cutting edge toys, including some designed by Tredway himself, beginning at 6 p.m. This will be followed by the annual Craftacular at Zen’s Cocktail Lounge (N. 11th & O St.) on November 12th, which will feature a variety of crafts and original items by local artists for sale.

“I like to subvert things,” Tredway explains. “I am constantly looking for holes or contrary arguments, and either address them or incorporate them.”

Greater truths are explored, power struggles unfurl with references to religion, society, and the natural world. There’s uncertainty, surprises, always something new to explore or discover. The reward is never knowing what you might encounter when you peer into one of Nolan Tredway’s paintings.

Comments

[Hanna]

Excellent article. I found Tredway on Etsy just this week - his work reminds me of Remedios Varo, a Dali contemporary. Love it!

[Lauren]

what an excellent article on a talented artist. thanks for this!

[Marc Kornbluh]

Great article. I saw work in this genre in Montreal recently -- including an artist named English (His paintings were featured in the movie Supersize Me) as well as others in the theme -- I think they call it new surrealism. Great stuff and Tredway's work is right up there, combining classical style with twisted Japanese influenced gamer pop.