I began 2021 by undergoing an intensive course of CBT as part of this I was encouraged to delve into my inner child. I had my aunt send me photographs of me as a young boy and amongst them was one of me at around 5 wearing a cowboy outfit, I have strong memory of that Xmas morning as we were going to Largs for the day and had to stop at the side of the road for me to pee and I could not get the chaps off in time. This could have been when my interest in how clothing developed and during my childhood I would make clothes for my action man and accessories for my own dressing up.
I introduced myself to my new classmates on the first day of high school as my name is William and I like fancy clothes.
By my early teens I was cutting up garments to make into patterns to make items and eventually studied at the Scottish college of textiles.
I graduated in 1994 and on 26/11/1994 was invited and exhibited a clothing collection at Glasgow's tramway under the name house of angus as part of a show titled the rebirth of style.
Around this time my issues with alcohol and mental health deepened and with the exception of some brief forays, my deep desire to launch myself upon a creative career was inconceivable and I worked in a variety of inconsequential jobs.
In 2001 I took some night classes and learned to paint with oils and sold a number of my paintings to friends and family, but I failed to develop a style and always tormented myself by overthinking and believing my work to be derivative.
I entered a rehab facility on 2nd January 2021 and quickly began to have continuous clarity of thought and threw myself into an intensive course of therapy and recovery.
Self-discovery showed the fact that I cannot truly live without expressing myself creatively and during brief gaps in therapy would put time aside to do so.
Due to lockdown conditions, I was unable to have art materials delivered and there were none on site I had to improvise with whatever I had too hand. I created a large piece of sculpture from fallen timber in the grounds depicting a dragon (which I named “Druk” after the Tibetan dragon of thunder” which was cathartic and I realized that my passion lay with 3d construction in a variety of materials.
For many years I have naturally been drawn to creating Art based on the human form.
I made a small figurine of myself in the cowboy outfit out of waste cardboard and pva which started the ball rolling on this current project, with no fully formed concept in mind I just kept making pieces which related to my journey and experiences.
When I left rehab, I submitted the photograph of “Druk” to #thegreatbigartexhibition2021 via Instagram encouraging the public to get creative organized by firstsite.uk.
The first theme was animals and curated by Anthony Gormley who personally selected my piece in his top 6 picks.
This helped to encourage me to be in the position to devote myself full time to my creative projects as I do today. I have a belief in my work and feel that I have found my voice, the collection of work which I have put together is coherent as well as joyous and playful.
I continue to create Art every day and believe that the clarity of my work just keeps improving which brings me huge amounts of joy and gratitude.
In June 2021 I was offered and accepted the opportunity to have a solo exhibition in CCA Glasgow to show the body of work which I had created in 2021. Titled Evolution of Wa.
July 2021 I created an installation “willie’s hut” in the window of roger billcliffe gallery Glasgow using the pieces from the cca exhibition in a new way to create a toy shop window.
Using the characters from “evolution of wa” I have a range of pyjamas in development with the textiles arm of GSA. I am building 6 room sets to be photographed for a commissioned billboard campaign in partnership with Martin Gray. Collaborating with the George Wyllie estate on his centennial celebrations and beyond.