Chad Wys is an artist, a designer, a writer and an image thief. That’s what he says of himself. And this is his work. That speaks loud of him through digital editing techniques.
But Chad Wys is really not just a conceptual artist and designer from Illinois. His paintings are experiments in composition, colour, and form. He uses a wide variety of media and often inharmonious colour schemes. His subjects are depicted in unusual colours, but their original context is typically preserved. By retooling the object he actually intends to add new layers to the the original.
“Someone recently wrote that I am more of a…con artist than a real artisan. That particular person, I think, had such an aversion to the digital medium — and perhaps to any art that fails to live up to his personal criteria — that he felt lied-to and, even worse, robbed of something deeply valuable and personal. I think that statement was meant as scathing criticism, but I find it quite apropos and honest. Digital manipulation is all around us: in advertisements, where models are brushed to perfection; in the movie theater, where impossible actions come to life; in the increasing distrust people have for digital photography, through which anyone can alter anything and present it like a reflection of reality. No wonder folks feel “lied-to”.
