The Strange Street Art of a Brighton Sailor

Will is an an innovative street artist whose pieces often have a spiritual or psychological twist. His work is a modern interpretation of an old question: how do we find an understanding of who we we are in the world?

To answer that, Will’s work looks back to images of old gods, psychological archetypes, religious icons, alchemical symbols, or tribal masks – and puts them into a digital context.

“I try to bring these old ideas – veneration of ancestors, spirits, gods, the dead, our internal processes – back to the present.”

Will is also a street artist: ‘Putting an old Aztec god in a derelict urban space kind of confuses what you expect. You think you’ll get advertising or grafitti – instead you see a wierd religious icon.”

As such his pieces as are public offerings, often he often lights incense, or leaves food at their base. Some of his work in the Thai jungle are now familiars of local lizards and snakes.

“I think modern society spectacularly fails to help us understand who we are. Maybe older peoples had a much better idea.”

Influenced by the wild art of Salvador Dali, Gustave Klimt and Frantisek Kupka, Will uses advanced Photoshop mapping techniques to create his intricate patterns and colour palletes; he then sculpts and carves his strange forms into this base layer. Sometimes he also hand finishes his pieces with varnishes, paints – even salvaged pieces of broken technology.

As a businessman, Will’s business background shapes his artistic journey. He’s’ Chairman of Brighton Energy Coop, a £5m energy co-operative in his home town of Brighton, UK. He and has started 3 previous businesses; in 2021 he began experimenting with street art: “I find the street is just the best gallery”.

The artist lives aboard his boat, the ‘Phosphorescence’.