Associate Professor of Photography
Department Chair
Biography
Tristan Cai is a multidisciplinary artist and professor specializing in photography and lens-based art. His work explores historical construction, visual ideology, and the instability of the photographic truth. Prior to focusing on contemporary art, Cai has worked as a commercial photographer with clients, including Polo Ralph Lauren and TBWA\PHS.
Based in Maryland, Cai is a recipient of the Maryland State Arts Council’s Independent Artist Award for Notable Artistic Achievement. His work has been exhibited internationally at notable institutions and festivals, including the Phoenix Art Museum, Noorderlicht International Photo Festival, Sun Valley Museum of Art, Kumho Museum of Art, GoEun Museum of Photography, National Museum of Singapore, the Lucie Foundation’s Month of Photography Los Angeles, and Miami Art Week.
Areas of Research Specialization
- Archival Research: Deconstructing historical photograhs and official histories through investigative, research-driven art practices.
- Diasporic Memory & Postcolonial Geographies: Mapping Asian transpacific identity, displacement, and the mythologies of cultural heritage.
- Scientific Inquiry & Empirical Fictions: Interrogating the intersection of visual art, technological apparatuses, and the constructs of objective knowledge.
- Staged Photography including the cinematic tableau, re-enactment and performance.
Areas of Teaching Specialization
- Photography (Digital and analogue)
- Research-based art
- Studio Lighting
Education
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M.F.A at San Francisco Art Institute, 2013
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B.F.A at Nanyang Technological University, 2011
Awards
- Steven Muller Distinguished Professor of the Arts, St. Mary’s College of Maryland (2023-2026)
- Pandion haliaetus Professorship in Art, St. Mary’s College of Maryland (2023-2025)
- Independent Artist Award, Notable Artistic Achievement, Maryland State Arts Council, MD, (2021)
- Norton T. Dodge Award for Scholarly & Creative Achievement by a Junior Faculty Member, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, (2021)
Spotlight
- 2025 | Commissioned by Sun Valley Museum of Art
"Echoes of Resistance", a research-based art project on the historic migratory movements of Asian laborers. Presented in the exhibition "Uncharted: Artists as Wayfinders", curated by Courtney Gilbert. https://www.svmoa.org/exhibitions/2025/uncharted-artists-as-wayfinders
- 2024 | "In-Flux: Recalibrating the Unknown"
Museum of Northern California Art, CA. Curator: Jeremy Morgan.
- 2024 | "Collaborating with The Archive"Filter Photo Festival, Chicago, IL.
- 2020 | "New Photography II"Academy Art Museum, Easton, MD (Juror: Philip Brookman, Consulting Curator, Dept. of Photography, National Gallery of Art, D.C.).
- 2019–2020 | "The Aesthetics of Disappearance"presented at Singapore International Photography Festival. Solo exhibition and artist residency at DECK Gallery, Singapore. https://sipf.sg/artist/tristan-cai/https://deck.sg/artist-in-residence-a-i-r/