Spencer Williams
Originally from North Carolina and now calling Portland, Oregon home, Spencer Williams is a visual artist/illustrator and maker. He works with a variety of surfaces from canvases to skateboards to roadside buses using spray paint and paint pens. As a maker, Spencer incorporates welding, woodworking, stained glass, fabrics, and found objects into his 3D constructions. He is a collector of hobbies, activities, and fond memories, which continue to influence his art, style, and obsessions.
Spencer has painted ephemeral murals in Washtucna, Washington, and Amarillo, Texas. He contributed to group skate deck shows, 6”x”6”x6” shows, and has been an artist in Portland Open Studios.
Along with commissioned work for permanent installation at ADX Portland. His completed works include welded flowers, ornamental garden trellises, fabric art, stained glass light boxes, acrylic on canvas, and pen sketches on donut boxes.
A bit more about me…
I’m a Gen X latch-key kid whose early years were TV dinners, Saturday morning cartoons, BMX bikes, skateboards, and MTV music videos. Nostalgia for toys and technology from the 70s, 80s, and 90s inspires much of my art.
Skateboarding, punk rock, tattoos, limited funds, and a DIY attitude carried me through college and early adulthood. These years marked the start of my journey of social awareness, punk rock, rooftop explorations, skate and destroy, and inspiration found within a group of friends. My print and sticker making owes its start to the adventures of my early 20s.
Then it was PNW living, rock climbing, cross-country drives, bluegrass, fly fishing, and a budgetary need to learn basic auto repairs, furniture-making, and gift-making. These life influences continue to show up in the construction methods I use for 3D objects today.