The exhibition Child’s Play by Asheville-based artist Will Murray opens with a reception on Friday, July 11, 6–8 p.m., at BlackBird Frame & Art. The show runs through August 29 and invites viewers to explore the intersection of childhood memories, creativity and whimsical artistry.
Murray’s work is deeply personal, drawing inspiration from his childhood and his children’s unfiltered approach to art. “I’m inspired by my kids, who are also great artists,” he says. “To them creation is enough, the end product is incidental and relationship to audience is nonexistent. It seems like a meditative exercise in ego deflation and it seems to make them very happy.”
Many of Murray’s paintings are an homage to a childhood experience that has remained with him for years. “I had a babysitter with a great collection of art books that I would pore over and try to copy,” he says. “One in particular made a huge impression: it was a story of an explorer and a naturalist in a world populated by fantastical creatures.” Though he has searched for this book as an adult, he has not been able to find it. Instead, he recreates the feeling of it through his art.
Murray’s process is one of balance—between control and spontaneity, between effort and ease. He describes his artistic process as “hit or miss,” and while there are recurring motifs that appear in his work, such as mandalas and sailors navigating the seas of life, the flow of creativity can often surprise him. “Other times I enter into a flow state that comes so easily to kids, my ego dwindles away and at last I’m left with an artifact that I have almost no recollection of creating.”…