William Clayton
William is a professional dancer whose paintings are inspired by bodies of motion. With a passion for both forms of creative expression, you can almost feel the movement in his art. He fuses his understanding of kinesiology and dance techniques to create vibrantly, fluid work that is full of energy and emotion. While viewing his collection, Clayton hopes people experience a wide range of sensations in their bodies while almost inviting them to become part of the dance.
What made you want to join Art Gym? Art Gym was a place that I wanted to join when I needed the space to make my visual art and to choreograph material for my master’s program. It was affordable and allowed me access to high quality programs such as Adobe Creative Suite as well as a community of artists to engage with.
How has Art Gym helped with your art practice? It has allowed me to train with other artists in programs like the figure drawing classes. The critiques have also given me feedback from people in the community about how my art is effective and where I can improve on it. Having Adobe Creative Suite was also really key especially on a computer that had enough storage to handle the quality of footage and the type of editing I like to do with my work. Having access to different spaces in the same building where I can go from painting to dancing to editing in the same day has been really important in honing my interdisciplinary work.
What are you hoping to communicate through your work? I hope I can give the viewer a sense of transformation as an act that occurs naturally in ourselves and our environment, in this case inspired by erosion, that is not to be judged as good or bad but as an experience that we continually live through in our days. Shaped by what has come before, prepared for what is to come next
Who and/or what are some of your biggest artistic influences? This visual work has been focused on a study of Matisse, both his paintings and his sculptures, but I also have taken inspiration from Egon Schiele for a lot of my figurative work. I am constantly inspired by motion in nature, whether that is found in animals, rock formations, water, or forests recovering from fires.
What does your artwork mean to you? It’s a way of reaching out to, to connect with others by sharing a new way of seeing the world. I hope there is in it an inspiration to experience life differently.
Instagram: @williamgclayton
