Greater Reality Of Elsewhere
229 – 230 High Street
Sinta Tantra’s artwork layers abstract spreads of geometric colour with two giant golden palm trees, creating an ambiguous imagery that reflects her Balinese origin and Western upbringing. Tantra’s artwork is part of the Art Across The High Street scheme, a partnership project to improve the appearance of Swansea City Centre funded by the Welsh Government, City & County of Swansea and Swansea BID.
Tantra’s inspiration for the piece was gained through the Travel Sketches of American writer Truman Capote, the nostalgic elements of the past combined with daydreaming of a different future. “I’m fascinated in the way in which architecture and public art leads ours bodies in certain directions across the city. Primarily, I wanted people passing by to engage with colour and imagery and then to ask more broader questions to themselves such as, how they want to live, build communities and interact with each other.”
Tantra, a British artist of Balinese descent, was born in New York in 1979. She studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London 1999–2003 and at the Royal Academy Schools 2004–06. She is well regarded for her site-specific murals and installations – many in the public realm. These include works for Canterbury Christ Church University, Transport for London’s Art on the Underground programme, Create KX London, the London Borough of Camden, the Southbank Centre and Liverpool Biennial.
