Collection: Austin Clay Willis
Austin Clay Willis currently lives and works on the traditional territory of the xwməθkwəy̓ əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations also known as Vancouver. He received his BFA with honours from the University of Victoria in 2020.
Austin creates multimedia abstract artwork through mediums including (but not limited to) painting, photography, sculpture, and installation. His work revolves around two themes: the tension between illusory and real space, and the bodily relationship to built and architectural environments.
His paintings are primarily concerned with the balance between paint and canvas as physical material, and the notion of painting as a “window” or a representation of real space. In turn, Austin’s sculptures inform his paintings and photographs through materiality. The use, reuse, and recycling of material is a big driver of his work. He often uses found scraps of lumber, plywood, discarded sheets of plastic, tarpaulin, textiles, lights, extension cords, mistinted house paint, and even paint rescued from the city dump.
