​Artist Bio 

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William Masters is an emerging abstract artist based in the New York City area, where he is currently one of 12 artists selected to participate in Columbia University’s prestigious Advanced Painting Intensive. He earned his BFA in Studio Art, with a concentration in Painting, from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis (2023), where he was awarded the Eda L. and Clarence C. Cushing Memorial Prize for excellence in painting. His training includes studies in Florence, Italy; County Wexford, Ireland; and at the Art Students League of New York. He has also completed artist residencies at Project 14C, Vermont Studio Center, the South Porch Artists Residency in South Carolina, and the New York Academy of Art, where he was recognized with an Academic Scholar Award.

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Drawing inspiration from sources as varied as Renaissance art, stand-up comedy, classical music, and Taoist and Buddhist philosophy, William’s gestural abstractions challenge conventional Western ideals of excellence and the systems through which they are accessed. His work explores the creative potential that emerges when such conventions are questioned—or left behind. From his early figurative work to his current abstract practice, William has remained committed to the pursuit of pure creative expression: seeking new ways to reflect our shared humanity through a visual language that aims to be as universal as possible.

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William’s years-long struggle with chronic pain caused by hypermobility Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) informs his deep sensitivity to—and belief in—the therapeutic power of visual art: its ability to ease suffering in all its forms through the simple force of aesthetic experience.

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Recent exhibitions, art fairs, and awards include the 150 Bay Artists Group Exhibition / Art Fair 14C (Jersey City); the 61st Annual Juried Competition at the Masur Museum of Art; and several juried shows with the Maryland Federation of Art, including Reflecting (main gallery), Light and Shadow (Curve Gallery), and Strokes of Genius (Circle Gallery). His work has also been featured in Symphony of Colors at the Martha Spak Gallery, and in Dove in the Bunker and What is WARGAP, TARGAP at the Des Lee Gallery in St. Louis. Currently, his paintings are on view in a six-month exhibition at Busboys & Poets in Washington, D.C., running from April through September 2025.

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His work has been featured in art publications including The Pigeon Review Art & Literary Journal and The Closed Eye Open, and is also on permanent display at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City, as well as in private collections across the country.