TFS Instructor Carolyn Tripp Returns to Her Creepy Roots in Final “The Beasting” Mural
A moth with an octopus’s tentacles now watches over a Kitchener street, courtesy of Toronto Film School (TFS) Graphic Design and Video Production instructor Carolyn Tripp.
Tripp is one of six artists whose work was unveiled on Sept. 27 on the outside of 44 Gaukel Creative Workspace, a City of Kitchener arts building, as part of Ontario Culture Days. Her black-and-white, negative-style creature sits in the middle of the mural, which is made up of two new 150-square-foot compositions featuring six digital artworks.
The mural is the final chapter of The Beasting, an “exquisite corpse-making challenge” at 44 Gaukel. Artists worked separately, with limited time and materials, on parts of a single creature without seeing each other’s contributions. Since 2020, the project has brought together more than 100 artists to create 25 full beast collaborations.
Tripp says being part of the closing installation is an honour.
“I was chosen as one of the six artists for the ‘Last Bits’ as this project is now being retired,” she said. “I’m honoured to be part of the final installation, and especially on such a fantastic space in the city.”
The piece also gave her a chance to return to subject matter she has long loved.
“I’ve been fascinated with darker subject matter (gothic horror, dark comics, supernatural) for some time, though much of my artistic practice has recently been focused on site-specific installation and other themes in my illustration,” she said. “The Beasting gave me a great opportunity to be more strange, so I included some inspiration from a variety of sources, merging a moth with an octopus in a black-and-white negative-style illustration.”
Tripp hopes the mural encourages her TFS students to put their own work in front of an audience.
“I hope they feel empowered to share their work in public, and not just on social media if possible,” she said. “Giving yourselves permission to do a creative thing in a public forum can be very fun, if not a bit intimidating. That discomfort can foster growth, so go for it!”
That message extends to everything she teaches, and to how she sees her students’ futures, too.
“I hope my students realize that their talents can be applied in a number of different spaces and places,” she said.
“Many of our students (if not all!) are artistically minded, and while they develop their design prowess, I highly encourage them to flex their artistic ‘muscles’ too by searching for local opportunities, or even pursuing their own projects. One practice can always inform the other.”
