Wiley Wallace’s paintings seem to exist in the few seconds between waking and remembering what was real. Children wander through barren landscapes, glowing geometric forms hover in the air, skeletons appear as companions or warnings, and enormous storms seem charged with something far stranger than electricity. Rendered with remarkable realism, these scenes feel familiar enough to enter, yet mysterious enough to make us wonder what rules govern the worlds beyond them. Born and raised in Arizona, Wallace studied inter-media arts at Arizona State University before earning his MFA from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He now teaches at South Mountain Community College while continuing to develop a body of work that blends meticulous figurative painting with surreal, metaphysical imagery. His surroundings also seem to leave their mark: rocky desert terrain, enormous skies, and isolated landscapes repeatedly become stages for encounters with the unexplained.
Children are especially important within Wallace’s work, and he often uses photographs of his own family as references. Against these carefully rendered figures, he introduces glowing skeletons, strange portals, radiant strands of energy, impossible clouds, and geometric objects that seem to have arrived from beyond the visible world. The contrast gives his paintings a distinctive tension between innocence and unease, with scenes that can feel playful one moment and quietly ominous the next. Rather than explaining exactly what is happening, Wallace leaves his narratives deliberately open. His characters often appear to be discovering, communicating with, or simply observing something they cannot fully understand. That ambiguity allows the paintings to hover between science fiction, childhood imagination, dreams, and something almost supernatural. Their neon glow even carries a touch of nostalgic extraterrestrial cinema, though Wallace’s worlds can just as easily drift toward darker, more dystopian interpretations.
Scroll down to enter Wallace’s strange, luminous universe, but don’t expect it to explain itself.
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#1 “Collectors”
Acrylic on panel, 2021
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#2 “Exit”
Acrylic on panel, 2022
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#3 “Reflection”
Acrylic on panel, 2024
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#4 “Distractions”
Acrylic on panel, 2019
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#5 “Looking Up”
Acrylic on cradled wood, 2025
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#6 Unnamed
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#7 “Night Bloom”
Acrylic on panel, 2026
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#8 “Separation”
Acrylic on panel, 2021
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#9 “Please Wait”
Acrylic on panel, 2021
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#10 “End Together”
Acrylic on panel, 2024
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#11 “Holding On”
Acrylic on panel, 2024
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#12 “Narrow Escape”
Acrylic on panel, 2017
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#13 “Visions”
Acrylic on panel
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#14 “Woven Trail”
Acrylic on panel, 2023
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#15 “Carry With”
Acrylic on panel, 2021
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#16 “Through”
Acrylic on panel, 2023
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#17 “Drifting”
Acrylic on panel, 2026
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#18 “Floating Projections”
Acrylic on panel, 2023
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#19 “Guided”
Acrylic on panel, 2021
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#20 “Gleaming Connection”
Acrylic on panel, 2021
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#21 “Juniper”
Acrylic on panel, 2023
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#22 “Seeking”
Acrylic on panel, 2021
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#23 “Reflection”
Acrylic on panel, 2021
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#24 “Narrow Embrace”
Acrylic on panel, 2021
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#25 “Fellow”
Acrylic on panel, 2021
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#26 “Going Away”
Acrylic on panel, 2024
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#27 “Going In”
Acrylic on panel, 2024
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#28 “Impossible Call”
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#29 “Star Dust”
Acrylic on panel, 2026
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#30 “Dream Together”
Acrylic on panel, 2026
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#31 “Zombie Cat Attack 1”
Acrylic on cat-shaped panel
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#32 “Creation”
Acrylic on panel
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#33 “Ice Cave”
Acrylic on panel, 2022
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#34 “Holds”
Acrylic on panel, 2023
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#35 “Waves”
Acrylic on panel, 2023
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#36 “Sharing”
Acrylic on panel, 2021
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#37 “Searching”
Acrylic on panel, 2021
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#38 “Night Light”
Acrylic on cradled panel, 2025
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#39 “Spectrum Embrace”
Acrylic on panel, 2021
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#40 “Fragile Loop”
Acrylic on panel, 2021
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#41 “Voyage”
Acrylic on panel, 2022
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#42 “Escape From Reality”
Acrylic on panel, 2026
Image source: Wiley Wallace
#43 “Zombie Cat Attack 2”
Acrylic on cat-shaped panel
Image source: Wiley Wallace
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