At the core, my work has always been about a romantic version of a distinctly American question: how to cross the desert between our heroes and ourselves. I've explored the idea of being caught between who we thought we should become and what we in fact have become. In my earlier series titled, The Mountain of Fire and Miracles, we stare at a chasm between reality and fantasy, crossable only by imagination and sentimental longing. Through this lens I've sought to remake our past dreams into a more forgiving view of our present circumstances, while offering a glimpse of another world just beyond our reach. Often, the spirit or guide will summons the viewer across the plane dividing this world and the next. In my current series of drawing and paintings, I have begun to include the same construction and exploration found in my earlier collage work. I’m intent on blending together many of the themes, and mediums I’ve explored over the last few years. These works place an emphasis on drawings, painting and collage, and installation, with elements of abstraction and narrative storytelling. Picking up some of the threads from my previous series, I’m interested in reconstructing the spirit and guarding against the outside forces.

William Crump was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. William currently lives and works in the East Village, with his wife, and five year old daughter. He studied painting at Ringling School of Art and Design. Recently, his worked has been exhibited at LittleBird Gallery, Los Angeles, Phenomena Project at The Trinity Museum in Manhattan, Fold Gallery in London, Galerie Surprise in Paris, Jen Bekman Gallery in New York and Tiger Strikes Asteroid Gallery in Philadelphia. William’s work has been reviewed in The Los Angeles Times, ArtUS, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. His work has been featured in Rojo Magazine, Rebel Magazine, Progress-Report, Beautiful Decay, Tabletop Magazine, Vitrine: a printed museum, and Oxford American.