My name is Tiffany Van Soest

And I create art.

Tiffany Van Soest
I am a Martial Artist as I express myself through the mediums of fighting along with poetry, and painting using my greatest tools: the eight limbs which have been sharpened over the span of my career as a World Champion prize fighter in the disciplines of Muay Thai and Kickboxing.

It is the (my) holy trinity of these three art forms that allow my purest emotions, thoughts, physicality, and spirit to be conveyed. From a curiosity and desire to see what the emotion and physical expression of my fighting movements manifested into as “traditional” visual art came the idea for what I jokingly call my “aggressive finger painting.”

For what I don’t express with my weaponized limbs and paint I mine the wells of my mind to find rhymes or pen lines that shine the light on the intricate workings inside.
The training is mixing and prepping the paints.

The opponent is the canvas.

Art with a Kick

No painting is made in vain. Each work of art is born from ideas and emotions wanting to express themselves through the physicality of my fighting techniques or my fighting techniques wanting to express ideas, emotions, and my appreciation for the beauty of life, nature, and the human experience. Read about each painting here

Wave

Available for Sale

Inspired by my love for the ocean and surfing this is undoubtedly one of my favorite pieces. For hours hundreds and hundreds of kicks and punches where thrown in various shades of blue and white to capture the power and beauty of mother ocean in all of her glory. The kicks were thrown from leg level to body level and at various angles. Punches were thrown from the body level up to the head to form the crest of the wave, crashing water and hollow barrel.

The Fire Inside

Available for Sale

Experimenting with different sizes and shapes of canvas this piece started out vertical. I didn’t really have anything in mind as to what I wanted to create specifically. I had lazily taped the canvas to the heavybag since this was just an “experimental” piece that I didn’t expect to do much with. While throwing kicks […]

Primary Punches

Available for Sale

This piece was created using the main punches used in fighting: jab, cross, hooks, uppercuts, and overhands. The primary color red and yellow backgrounds mounted on the black were inspired by the 1972 Bruce Lee film “Fists of Fury.”

Mermaid

Available for Sale

After I finish a piece where I’m extremely conscious of what I’m doing or where I force myself to stay within specific guidelines or “rules” while making the painting I feel like I need to get back to pure expression with very little to no conscious thought about what I am creating. (Think about standing […]

Jungle Flower (Triptych)

Available for Sale

Nature is the greatest artist and the master of color. The blend of the candy-like hues of the tropics amongst the rich, deep greens creates a pleasing balance and endless inspiration for color. With the tones inspired by tropical flowers in the wild, this triptych piece emphasizes changing levels or attacking the fighter’s three main […]

Jab Hook Low Kick

Available for Sale

This is a common, quick, and powerful combination. It can come off as light and playful since the jab and hook are more for speed to set up and get into position to throw a powerful, chopping low kick.

Injured Hand

Available for Sale

After finishing “Berawa Suset” because the canvas I used was thicker than my usual one my knuckles were extremely torn up. To make things worse, I had injured my right hand during a sparring session so anything with it was painful. I was still in the mood to paint. I think my enthusiasm and energy […]

Ichi, Ni, San

Available for Sale

Each combination thrown to create this piece was three strikes. Each color was applied individually. Ichi, ni, san is how you count to three in Japanese. This piece was Inspired by the Japanese origin of the first martial art I ever practiced, karate and the simplicity yet effectiveness of basic combinations that serve as a […]

From my soul
To my fists
To the canvas
© 2023 Tiffany Van Soest. All rights reserved.

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