Biography

Billy is a Nigerian, New York - based visual artist whose practice spans oil painting on canvas, soft pastel on paper, ceramics, portraiture, and muralism. His work fuses surrealist sensibilities with scenes drawn from everyday life, creating imagery that oscillates between action, imagination, and lived experience.

He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree, a postgraduate qualification in Architectural Ceramics from the University of Fine Arts, Poznań, Poland, and a Master’s degree in Art Education from the State University of New York at Albany. His work has received numerous national and international awards and has been acquired by private collectors and institutions worldwide.

Continuously exploring new visual languages, Billy’s evolving practice reflects an ongoing inquiry into form, narrative, and material expression.

He is a member of several distinguished art organizations, including:
• National Society of Artists, El Lago, Texas (Signature Member)
• Circle Foundation for the Arts, Lyon, France (Featured Artist)
• San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild, San Diego, California (Active Member)
• Pastel Society of America, New York, New York (Active Member)

Artist Statement

My work emerges from close observation of the world and a parallel attraction to fantasy. Moving between the real, the surreal, and the abstract, I seek to register fleeting moments shaped by time and circumstance. Influenced by both tropical and temperate climates, I employ contrasts of warm and cool color to evoke place, atmosphere, and emotional resonance.

Through dynamic gestures, diffused light, and layered applications of paint or pastel, my compositions oscillate between definable and indeterminate forms, creating perceptual ambiguity and illusion. I work intuitively with thin veils of color as well as impasto - using palette knife in oil and dense pastel strokes - to intensify texture, depth, and chromatic vibrancy.

Attuned to an ever-changing environment, I view humanity, nature, and technology as interwoven forces shaping contemporary reality. My work aims to capture this intersection and convey the charged energy of the world as it unfolds.

www.billymrowey.com