William Spencer III

Biography

Raised in the Midwest without television William Spencer III became fascinated with the idea that the air is filled with images, words and ideas which are not seen unless properly "tuned in" to the right wavelength.

A former commercial Illustrator, Spencer made a permanent detour following his love of painting in the late 1980s. The main body of his historical and current works are produced in acrylic, oil and resin silkscreen on plaster and board. In his own words:

"I like to think my work is something like these unseen wave-forms. I would compare this to a familiar tune where the words may not consciously be understood yet one still finds meaning or nostalgia. In my work, texture and patina appear like the undeniable effects of age and acceptance alongside muted barely visible partial lines of poetry and various parts of numbers and letters. Sometimes such inclusions have root meanings from heavy ideas found in quantum physics and other times they are just innocent passengers inserted like stowaways.

It is best for me not to be preoccupied by the end result, and instead to allow the painting to more or less evolve on its own. Mostly my work is unplanned. This may seem to be a contradiction for someone who sees the very structured parts of the painting. It is also very important that the most important part of the meaning arise as much from those who collect my work as from my own subconscious."

"I strive to find a fresh balance between the intentional and happy accidents. I love the dichotomy of soft lines and organic tendrils and ropes shared with rigid clearly human derived shape architecture. While it is important the viewer sees the clear evidence of obvious brush work I still want one to wonder if portions were finished by artificial means."

Spencer currently resides in Arizona. His work is represented in Belleza, Bisbee AZ,LKG Contemporary, Scottsdale AZ, Niemann Hayden,Scottsdale AZ and in Envision Gallery, Taos New Mexico.