William Glaser Wilson creates deeply personal paintings that respond to his individual experiences and adapt to the conditions of his immediate environment. Originally trained as a photographer, he investigates the power of images to capture a moment, using both representation and abstraction within paintings that serve as impressionistic records. Merging the distinctive realms of his daily life and studio practice, Wilson imbues his works with significant subjective meaning while engaging with collective themes of the passage of time, family, and memory.
Wilson developed his most recent paintings after moving to a remote locale in a once-thriving mining community in upstate New York, where he based his studio in an abandoned church. As the title of the exhibition suggests, Spirit Sanctuary is directly influenced by this space. In new works executed on a vertical format mimicking the proportions of the stained-glass windows that provide the studio’s only source of light, Wilson embraces the picturesque natural environment and scarcity of commercial supply in his community as an opportunity for the expansion of visual possibilities rather than restriction. The artist incorporates found materials like flowers and liturgical linens in his highly expressive paintings, loading ritual and reverential iconography into works that serve as acts of devotion to the messiness and beauty of everyday life.
Spirit Sanctuary is organized by SCAD Museum of Art curator Ben Tollefson and is presented as part of SCAD deFINE ART 2025.
About the artist
In his practice, William Glaser Wilson (b. 1994, Yonkers, New York; SCAD B.F.A., photography, 2017) uses photography, sculpture, and painting to portray collective struggles and pleasures through constructed environments. Wilson has shown his work in solo and two-person exhibitions at CCAN Art Gallery at Trinity College, Hartford, Conn., and the Savannah Cultural Arts Center, Ga., among others. His work was included in the group exhibition Self-Adjacent, which traveled to venues including the Visual Arts Center of Richmond, Va.; Massey Klein Gallery, New York; and the Kennedy Museum of Art, Athens, Ohio. He has participated in residencies including the SCAD Alumni Atelier. Wilson lives and works in the Adirondacks of New York with his daughter and wife, fellow artist Julia Wilson.
