Willow Bayer
Willow Bayer is a twenty-nine year old emerging artist currently based in Appleton, Wisconsin. She received her BFA in Painting and Drawing from the Peck School of the Arts, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2018. During her last year of school, Bayer discovered her love for collage. She now creates small paper works and references them for acrylic paintings. This process helps her plan out the color and composition before painting. Naturally, differences occur in each iteration. Bayer chooses subjects or places based on her experiences. For this reason, her work becomes autobiographical. Influences that inspire Bayer are colors of environments in animated TV shows and illustrations in children's books.
She is trained in many forms of printmaking techniques and recreates her paintings through CMYK screen printing.
Additionally, she also enjoys painting commissioned pet portraits, especially making them look like quirky characters from various periods, styles, or genres.
Artist Statement
By investigating different perspectives and using bold colors, I recreate everyday places. My process begins by either photographing or sourcing photos of spaces, from which I create collages. The collages are finished pieces and are references for my acrylic paintings. My references determine what textures and applications to use before painting each layer. After painting I add details with ink giving them an illustrative style. Through recreating these spaces, I reinvent the world using my imagination, but still including parts of reality.
CV
Willow Bayer
b. 1995, Neenah, Wisconsin
Lives and works in Appleton, Wisconsin
Education
2018 BFA, University of Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Exhibitions
2024 37th Annual Northern National Art Competition, Juried Exhibition, Nicolet College Art Gallery,
Rhinelander, WI
2024 TMA Contemporary, Juried Exhibition, The Trout Museum of Art,
Appleton, WI
2024 Go Wild! 2, Juried Exhibition, Scout Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
2023 Made To Order, Group Exhibition, The Trout Museum of Art,
Appleton, WI
2023 Family Photos, Group Exhibition, Scout Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
2023 Flourished, Group Exhibition, Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor, WI
2023 The Art of Ecological Resilience, Group Exhibition, Liminal Space Gallery, Neenah, WI
2022 Teeny Tiny and BOLD, Juried Exhibition, Rountree Gallery, Platteville, WI
2021 Made To Order, Group Exhibition, The Trout Museum of Art,
Appleton, WI
2021 41th Annual Secura Fine Arts Exhibition, Juried Exhibition, The Trout Museum of Art,
Appleton, WI
2021 Shear Madness, Juried Exhibition, Northville Art House,
Northville, MI
2020 Art is Her, Solo Exhibition, The Trout Museum of Art Atrium,
Appleton, WI
2020 The Art of Collage II, Juried Online Exhibition, Frank Juarez Gallery,
Milwaukee, WI
2020 40th Annual Secura Fine Arts Exhibition, Juried Exhibition, The Trout Museum of Art,
Appleton, WI
2020 Puzzling, Group Exhibition, Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts, Milwaukee, WI
2019 Go Wild!, Juried Exhibition, Scout Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
2019 Polished, Group Exhibition, Scout Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
2019 39th Annual Secura Fine Arts Exhibition, Juried Exhibition, The Trout Museum of Art,
Appleton, WI
2017 Scholarship Competition, Group Exhibition, Arts Center Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
2016 Student Show, Group Exhibition, Aylward Gallery, Menasha, WI
Awards
2012 Honorable Mention for Mixed Media, Scholastic Art and Writing Award
2011 Honorable Mention for Drawing, Scholastic Art and Writing Award
Publication
2024 TMA Magazine | Issue 3 | May 2024
2023 Peninsula Pulse | May 2023
2022 Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region The Loop Blog | December 2022
2021 Fox Cities Magazine | January Issue
2020 fsm. Volume 1 | Issue 5
2016 Duomo IV
Residencies
2021 Appleton Public Library, Wisconsin