Austin recently completed his MFA at the School of Visual Arts and received his Bachelor’s in Visual Art from the University of Victoria in British Columbia. Over the past few years, he has participated in group and solo shows in New York, Toronto, and Vancouver. This year, he completed the High Desert Test Site Work-Trade residency at A-Z West in Joshua Tree, California with the support of the International Residency Grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. In 2023, Austin produced a solo show at the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art in Kelowna, BC. Additionally, in 2019, he was awarded the International Sculpture Center’s Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award.
Austin maintains a multidisciplinary practice exploring motifs around common industrial materials and domestic design and architecture. His sculptures and installations often make use of found or reclaimed materials to discuss their use, reuse, and recycling. The treatment of these materials varies greatly in process and finish while still defining a specific visual language. His work articulates an inquiry into process and production, asking viewers to reconsider their relationship to the spaces and objects they visit every day.
Website: austinclaywillis.com
