William Brickel’s paintings explore how memories of past experiences become embellished through the act of recollection. His domestic compositions depict figures folded and intertwined, as if obeying a harmonic ideal. The characters, however, seem curiously detached, distracted eyes indicating they are enveloped not by each other but by their own thoughts. Distorted limbs contribute to this sense of displacement, hinting at how memory re-shapes what we first perceive to create a new and stranger truth. At the same time, oversize hands and the knotting of limbs articulate a desire for connection and physical touch. Through his weaving of bodies William balances the tangible with the psychological, and in doing so probes the gap between the two.
William Brickel studied Fine Art Photography at Camberwell College of Arts (UAL), graduating in 2017. Since then, he has had solo exhibitions in Los Angeles, Milan, and London, and exhibited at Art Basel Miami in 2020.
