Inside The Artist's Studio

( Tiner Painting his first "Functional Art" Jacket.)

During the spring of my senior year, Brown had a "Senior Prom." Several of my friends had their tuxedos flown in from across the country. I thought people were taking it a little too serious, so I decided to change the outlook. After all, vivid 1980s photos were used in the advertisements and the event was promoted as a flashback to high school, a time where I explored diverse artistic media, including painting, printmaking and photography.

Consequentially, I went to a local thrift store and purchased a suit to reflect my expressive artistic style. I enjoyed painting the suit and creating living artwork.

Traditionally, fine art is displayed in an affluent living environment or museum setting. The goal of the jacket is to create a fine art piece that changes the traditional paradigm. I created a functional piece of fine art that consequentially created more fine art when people photograph it (assuming the photographs are properly archived).

The jacket can be framed and displayed in a high-end environment or it can be worn on a daily basis: a mixture of high brow/low brow functionality.


In 2008, I wore this jacket to Project Ethos.


I have since been developing more fashion products that challenge the definition of contemporary fashion (and are more suitable for everyday use). In particular, I have been focusing on men's ties and women's scarves. I look forward to sharing this work in the months ahead.