The Zendaya 1996 by Willie Walls

Willie Walls’ studio practice began in 1983 when he joined the ECF Art Center and quickly took up watercolor paint as his primary medium. He has since become a prolific artist known for his signature checkerboard patterns. In his paintings, he juxtaposes these patterns with close-ups of human faces and notable musicians. As symbolic thread throughout his work, this combination of geometric order and organic variation suggests an ongoing fascination with the slippage between the orderly and the unexpected.

“I do that checkerboard and I’m good at it too. Do the lines and fill them in, yeah, everything. And I like to be making money and show my artwork all the time. That’s it I guess.”

- Willie Walls Jr.