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An artist meticulously painting “still lives” of every square foot of his London flat has said the project has helped him see the “beauty in the mundane”.
Rod Kitson, 42, from South East London, spent 190 days in 2018 painting life-size sections of his studio flat onto one foot by one foot MDF squares, “transforming everyday surroundings into art” and improving his oil painting skills.
It became a “deeply immersive experience”, making Rod feel like he was “in lockdown before lockdown was a thing”.
Now he has restarted the project from scratch, painting for up to five hours per day in his determination to reproduce every inch of his 20ft by 12ft flat.
He is sharing his journey on TikTok under the handle @rodkitsonart, which has boosted his confidence – with his most viewed video earning more than 200,000 views.
Rod told PA Real Life: “It’s helped me accept my identity as an artist and have the confidence to show my authentic self with an imperfect, small flat.
“It shows there is beauty in the mundane and I’m accepting what I’m making today, and who I am today.
“Tomorrow is a new day and I’m trying to grow as an artist and as a person.
“The project has helped me grow my confidence.”
Rod has been a full-time artist for about 10 years, with some of his favourite work including portraits, landscapes, and “fragmented figures” painted onto one-square-foot panels.
From February to September 2018, he painted sections of his studio flat onto 1ft x 1ft MDF squares every day without a break for 190 days.
He captured everything, from his hallway to a rug and even a painting on his wall, aiming to improve his painting “in the most efficient way” through the project.
“It took out some of the uncertainty, some of the fear, some of the overwhelm that can come from being an artist,” he explained.
“By doing it every day you see colours differently, the light conditions change, and it forced me to be creative.”
Painting his home daily often made him feel like he was “in lockdown before lockdown was a thing”.
“It would have been a perfect project to do in isolation, locked away toiling on this daily mission, distraction, production and therapy all in one,” he said.
In 2019, he called the project Machines for Living In, and displayed it in an unused shop in Surrey Quays shopping centre, London.
He sold the squares for £200 each, repainting any that were bought, with his bookcase being the most popular piece.
In February this year, he decided to embark on the challenge again to see if his art had improved and to create pieces “without any thoughts about validation or approval”.
He has begun by painting the front door, recycling box and “cheap laminate flooring” in his V-shaped flat.
“The paintings actually look more alive than the thing itself, that’s the beauty of the boring stuff,” Rod said.
“There are glitches throughout – a pair of shoes might be by the door one day and gone the next, and that’s life.”
He is particularly looking forward to painting his dining table, incorporating nods to traditional still life with a fruit bowl.
Compared to his first attempt, he paints more instinctively, with each square taking up to five hours.
He has to be mindful of paint fumes and avoid being overly critical of his flat, as spending hours examining every detail has made him notice that “it is a bit tired in places”.
“Before, I didn’t really want to paint everything, because I didn’t want to show everyone how small my place was,” he said.
“Now I’m painting things like the kitchen and cupboards, even inside them.
“I think it’ll be more honest, a representation of where I am in my life.”
This time, he has been documenting his journey on TikTok, which has boosted his confidences.
“I never imagined it would get so much traction from what I see as quite a mundane, nerdy project,” Rod said.
“It gives me faith in myself and confidence in my journey. I used to try to make myself ‘normal’ and didn’t want to be different.”
The project has brought structure to his life, but he is unsure how he will feel once it is complete, as it has become his “security blanket”.
He has produced more than 34 squares and he estimates it will take 300 to 400 squares to finish his entire flat.
He would like to end the project by painting his reflection in his bathroom mirror “so it gets quite meta”.
Looking ahead, Rod hopes to transform the project into a large-scale installation, with his painted rug and flooring on the floor and his wall paintings propped up to create the illusion of the flat itself.
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