max willis
born 03.02.1972
Ipswich, England
m.willis [at] luminousgreen.net
artist and media designer
www.maxwillis.net
www.luminousgreen.net
ART EXHIBITIONS:
2005 Berlin Galerie Zero painting
2004 Berlin Berlinova
2001 Sulzburg, Germany, Open Studios
2001 Basel, Switzerland, Botanical Gardens of the University of Basel;
'Botanicolor, the Ethnobotanic of dye and fibres'
exhibit pdf (280kb) and website
2000 Sulzburg, Germany, Open Studios
1999 Sulzburg, Germany, Open Studios
1998 Sulzburg, Germany, Old Glass House
1997 St. Ilgen, Germany, Bushmann Dyeworks
1997 Freiburg, Germany, Jos Fritz
MEDIA PROJECTS:
2004 - 2005 Hong Kong Virtual Transit Rail (VTR) sample Quicktime 3.6Mb
2004 flash application Mai Po Biotope Mapping Key
2003 hk.stationeast.net web development in hong kong
2003 flash xml application Cukurova Delta Information Application
2002 www.ostbahnhof.de Virtual Environment of Berlin's Eastern Railway Station,
VIDEO ART:
2004 "Three Grasses" Yunnan quicktime 24MB screened at Tromanale February 2005
2004 videogeist@kinzo w/larry heard "mr. fingers" Quicktime 7.2 Mb
2004 videogeist@kinzo w/brett dancer Quicktime 12.8 Mb
2004 "Parade" Hong Kong Quicktime 3MB
2003 "Fotanart" Hong Kong Quicktime 3MB
2003 videogeist@kinzo, berlin quicktime 3MB
WEB DESIGN:
2005 website design, Caroline Rolka www.dietae.de
2005 flash site essayrecordings.com
20 05 film promo Joost Renders Herzlutschen
2003 - 2004 freelance webdesign with Spielfeld Kulturkonsultation :
www.spielfeld.net
www.boxion.de
www.inzwischenzeit.de
spielfeld/wrangel
2003 DVD design Parasit - Kurz Film Festival 2003 - Galerie Zero Berlin
2003 DVD design "Wenn nicht Jetzt..." documentary by Sigrun Schnarrenberger
2003 flash site for filmmaker Norbert Santiago www.norbert-santiago.de
2003 flash site for film editor Paul Murray www.paurray.de
2002 site design New Berlin Film Academy www.nbfa.de (offline)
SELECTED WORK AND EXPERIENCE:
2002 Praktikum/Internship to the Politikagentur GmbH,Grafik und Internet department (Reference)
2001 private research travel to South India to visit textile printers and und Indigo farmers; Andhra Pradesh und Tamil Nadu
1998 private research travel to West-Afrika to visit traditional indigo dyers; Labe, Guinea and Dogon, Mali
1995-`96 worked in the Red Sea, as deckhand on (SCUBA) dive ships, completed advanced PADI sport diving licence; MS Andromeda, MS SueEllen, reg. Israel und MS Sun Boat, reg. Belize Cruises and extended Charters to Phaeros Islands, to Scharem el Sheik and Hurghada, I.R. of Egypt
1994 private research travels to Florenz, Italy and Anatolia, Turkey
1994 private study of traditional textile coloiuring, printing techniques and colour history; Vrieselhof musee des textiles, Antwerpen, Belgien
1991-`93 Graphic Artist and silkscreen printer by Wise-Up! Reactionwear, Tucson, Arizona, USA Design, colour separation and rotary-press printing Textiles and T-shirts
1989-`91 began work with Batik, textile dyes and printing at the Day-Job Rehabilitation Center, College Park, Maryland, USA
after graduating from Highschool aged 16, moved to the USA
1988 included in the volume Who's Who in American High School Students 1988 for excellence in Photography, Mathematics and computer science
1985-'88 study of photography under tutorage of Dean Fitzgibbons and Julie Crowe, Kadena AirForce Base Arts and Crafts Center, Okinawa, Japan: Imaging, printmaking, darkroom chemistry
1984 began painting acryl on canvas, studying art with father
HISTORY:
max willis is the son of american artist david willis and he learned from his father about painting and making art. max has diverse experience as photographer, printer, indigo dyer, web developer and computer animator yet painting and drawing have always been max‘s most artistic expressions. he always returns to working with acryl on canvas.
max grew up on the island of okinawa, japan and in rheinland-pfalz, germany. he has travelled extensively and lived for a time in the usa. most recently his focus has been on india and china. throughout these world experiences he gathers impressions which translate into diverse figures, faces and emotions within his art. currently max willis is based in berlin.
ARTIST STATEMENT:
“when i paint, i don’t have at first any idea what the picture will be. i just paint. once i see what is happenning on a canvas, i make the lines, color in the different parts, add accents here and there. it’s quick and easy. i like bumpy paint, so i paint many times on a canvas. when it has many layers of colour, the brushstrokes seem more organic and images appear spontaneously as i am painting.
if i realize i am i paying too much attention or trying to make the picture in a particular way, i will quit with that image, let it dry and paint it over. my best paintings are the ones which just happen and i strive to let the art flow freely. “
max willis