Alfred H. Wills IV is a painter currently working in Chicago, IL. He was born in Davidson, NC where he lived until moving to Chicago. He graduated form
The School of The Art Institute of Chicago in 2024.
Images from everyday interests and interactions percolate through my process. These images support, move around, and blend in with the abstract language that I'm developing in my work. This combination of familiar images and forms mixed with the aspects that are newly introduced, and inherently me, create ambiguity between what is being shown and what the viewer sees. Space in my paintings is being dictated by form and line. Some are carved out and some are flattened. Some are shown, some are told. This creates a crowded area filled with things vying for attention, but eventually settle into harmony. The history of a painting emerges during my process, through covering and erasure, allowing glimpses of process and time for the viewer. This adds the “when” to the ambiguous “what” and “where”.