Bryan Defjan (b. 2001, Jakarta, Indonesia) is a figurative painter based in San Francisco. His paintings trace the emotional negotiations of queerness, masculinity, and belonging, forming diaristic scenes that move across lived experience and imagined interior worlds. Working in vibrant oils and a dash of glitter, he examines everyday moments through a visual language suspended between vulnerability and spectacle.

Education

2025

B.S. Design, Minor in Art Practice, Stanford University, CA, USA

Exhibitions

2026
 
2025
 2024
 2023
 
 2022

Touch Me Not: Juried Exhibition, Stanford Art Gallery, Stanford, CAMy Playground, My Dreams: Juried Exhibition, Stanford Art Gallery, Stanford, CA
Unfinished Desire: IDA Fellowship Exhibition, Harmony House, Stanford, CAWhen the Angels Came: Juried Exhibition, Stanford Art Gallery, Stanford, CA
One More Time: Juried Exhibition, Good Mother Studio, Oakland, CAPanoramic Enlightenment: Juried Exhibition, Stanford Art Gallery, Stanford, CA
Multifaceted: Group Show, SOMArts, San Francisco, CA
Gravity Vehicles: Group Show, Stanford Terra Gallery, Stanford, CASpillover: Juried Exhibition, Stanford Art Gallery, Stanford, CA
ArtX: Group Show, SOMArts, San Francisco, CA
Spring Fair: Group Show, Cantor Arts Center, Stanford, CA

Awards

20252024

Anderson Ranch Scholarship for Photography and New MediaInstitute for Diversity in the Arts (IDA) Fellowship, Stanford University

Publications

2026
 
2025
 
2023

This Stanford Grad Finds Resistance in the Ordinary (Stanford Political Review)
 
Harvard Undergraduate Art Journal: Spring 2025 Issue
 
Annual Undergraduate Juried Exhibition: Our bodies without disguise (The Stanford Daily)