While the subject matter of Owen Wills’ paintings is restless and constantly shifting, they consistently reflect the artist’s core priorities. A quietness runs through much of the work, balancing simple, observed moments with an awareness of the effort and struggle embedded in everyday life. The paintings are smooth and softly rendered, using blending techniques informed by Wills’ time working as a muralist and sign painter in New York City. Drawing from personal photography, physical collage, and archival film stills, the work aims to convey a sense of personal spirituality, finding subtle magic in daily life and elevating its most mundane, humble details.

Owen Wills was born in 1996 at his family’s cheese factory in Plain, Wisconsin. He received his BFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 2020, before moving to New York City during the pandemic to work as a full-time painter. After several years of studio practice and large-scale sign painting on the East Coast, he presented a self-organized solo exhibition at Tumbao on the Lower East Side. He has since relocated to Los Angeles, where he currently lives and works.