ARTIST STATEMENT

I go around shooting photographs of abandoned structures and those places are what inspire my paintings. If old houses and buildings could talk, I’d love to hear their stories. The tales of the people who inhabited this space, the energy and atmosphere they brought to it, their legacy... Nothing just “comes to be” and nothing is just left in abandon for no reason. Through painting, I try to preserve the memory of them, their history and the people that may have lived there. My work becomes a voice for these structures and provides viewer’s the opportunity to build their own stories in the process. 

My houses are like self portraits — painted to reflect the human condition with empathy and integrity. This work helps me to define myself in relation to the world around me where I explore the realization of identity using these seemingly impersonal spaces.
I’m intrigued by the power they possess to evoke a human presence where none exists. The structures are made of disparate parts that join together reviving a story desperate to be told. Conceptually, I am preserving and bringing to life again a home, a life, a story long forgotten or abandoned and, like us, these structures are broken but beautiful containing layers and depth for the viewer to contemplate.

BIOGRAPHY

William Mize was born in Knoxville, TN. He studied fine art at Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota then established his art career in Atlanta where he spent the last 20+ years. William has been creative his entire life and painting came naturally. He believes that painting helps him to more fully understand something — be it a structure, figure or abstract idea. In his paintings, this understanding manifests itself in many ways, either stemming from the past where it reaches back to his earliest memories or delving into the future where it becomes new and ever-changing. Today, William lives and works in Charlotte, NC with his wife and three children.