"The task of art is to transform what is continuously happening to us, to transform all these things into symbols, into music, into something which can last in man’s memory. That is our duty. If we don’t fulfill it, we feel unhappy. A writer or any artist has the sometimes joyful duty to transform all that into symbols. These symbols could be colors, forms or sounds…You are continuously receiving things from the external world. These must be transformed, and eventually will be transformed. This revelation can appear anytime...You think you are alone, and as the years go by, if the stars are on your side, you may discover that you are at the center of a vast circle of invisible friends whom you will never get to know but who love you. And that is an immense reward." ~ Jorge Luis Borges
William Test was hatched in Dayton, OH many moons ago. After surviving public high school and adolescence in general, he went off to art school in Cincinnati to study painting and fine art. After graduating he moved to California’s Bay Area where he traveled around a bit and worked in art museums - and eventually crossed paths with his future wife. Moving to Chicago a few years later, he worked briefly in the coffee biz and then made a rapid retreat back to the visual and hands-on world of exhibit design, production, and installation at the Field Museum. He currently works as a freelance art installer and resides along a river in NW Indiana where he also maintains his studio practice. Besides making paintings and drawings, he employs two cats, enjoys collecting random ephemera, avoids reading the comments section at all costs, and still spends too much time playing video games.
The subject matter of his artwork focuses mostly on enigmatic and imaginary visions that ride the rails between realism and abstraction. Subjects of inspiration include: movies, medieval and ancient art imagery, Persian miniature paintings, science fiction and fantasy books, cartoons and comic books, toys, vintage design and print, and old photos. Aside from his unusual yet curiously familiar subject matter, his methods tend to originate out of meditative and abstract painting and drawing practices incorporating textures and layers. The goal of the work is to coagulate and resolve itself into more tangible subject matter or scenes while also maintaining a sense of ghostlike dreams. His work tends to be fairly small in scale but represents somewhat counter-intuitively, ambient and colossal spaces and figures.
William has also produced album cover and merch artwork for bands such as Sweet Cobra, The Life and Times, and Aero Flynn, and recently designed and painted the DonerMen food truck in Chicago, IL.