Photograph by Mike D (@seasonsofeastvan)
Will Phillips is known for his imaginative and otherworldly paintings that draw the observer in. Primarily a self-taught artist, he uses traditional and digital media to craft fantastic stories. Starting his career in earnest in 2017, Will went on to paint an iconic mural in Vancouver, ‘Digital Renaissance’ on Broadway and Quebec Street for the Vancouver Mural Festival. In 2018 Will exhibited his first solo art show, Sirens of Zoar, at Slice of Life Gallery in East Vancouver. He featured highly detailed and unique oil paintings inspired by mythology and a series of evocative portraits of powerful femme fatales.
During this time, Will has been a primary artist working on the cutting edge of technology at Charm Games, a Virtual Reality studio. For the past 7 years, engaging with this exciting new technology during the day and spending his evenings steeped in exploring the imaginative with traditional media, Will has developed a desire to bring these worlds together. This pursuit is what now drives him to embark on new and exciting endeavors.
Exhibiting his work at such places as the Burrard Arts Foundation and Federation Gallery, and in 2020 putting on his second solo exhibition, Mortal Fables, Will met artists and innovators in many creative industries. Seeing the opportunity to push both his personal work, and potentially a new industry forward, Will is working on the avant garde, combining traditional paintings with augmented reality and virtual reality. This, along with other collaborative projects, is what he is focusing on now.