William Underwood

William grew up on his family's Appalachian Mountain farm, but at 16, relocated to Florida to attend a pre-professional ballet program where he received intensive training to pursue a career in the arts. An unexpected hip injury caused William to pivot his creative intensions towards his two other interests: painting and cooking.Moving to Charlotte, NC, William began rising swiftly through the culinary ranks to executive chef status, eventually directing some of the city’s most innovative culinary programs. Now focused on painting, William considers his artwork the byproduct of dual musings: his fascination with the art and lives of prehistoric humans, and the whimsical nature of his young children.By burning canvas over an open-pit fire and marrying natural materials such as local clay, ash, and native charcoal with more conventional mediums and mark making by his toddlers, these ideas have become a lived experience for him and the paintings he makes.