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Adam Fulwiler found his way into creating contemporary abstract paintings after initially painting realistic and representational works; his love for the material of paint shifted the style of his work. Fulwiler’s current work features formalism and geometric shapes, matched with color, to convey words visually. He gains inspiration from his work by re-evaluating recent experiences and conversations that evoke feelings in his life. 

Before putting brush to canvas, Fulwiler rethinks through recent situations to find a quote from his own life with hidden meanings and inspiration. Once he selects a quote, he thinks about what color represents it, with bright red resembling anger, frustration, or anxiety, and blue feeling more somber and calming, as well as the aggressiveness of a mark and busyness of a composition.  

“The initial beginning of the painting is pretty loose, it’s not too calculated, I kind of let the painting speak for itself in the beginning,” Fulwiler says. “Once I feel like a resolution is getting close, then I’ll start to direct the painting towards a final finished product. Sometimes the initial quote ends up not fitting too much with the final piece, so then I might go back into my notebooks and look for a quote or a memory that fits the piece a little bit better.”

Fulwiler started painting at an early age, taking the hobby more seriously in high school where he enrolled in as many art classes as possible. From high school, he continued his education at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay where he graduated in May 2017 with a major in studio arts and a minor in design arts. He will be attending grad school at the University of Arkansas in the fall in pursuit of his Master of Fine Arts degree. 

“I’d say one of the most exciting parts [of my career] was that the University of Green Bay purchased one of my pieces before graduation and [it’s on] the third floor of the Cofrin Library,” Fulwiler says. 

Fulwiler’s art has been featured in several exhibitions around the Fox Valley with his first solo exhibition in April 2018 in the Jabberwock in Algoma. He’s also been in exhibitions at the Miller Art Museum in Sturgeon Bay, the Dubuque Area Arts Collective, UW-Green Bay’s Lawton Gallery, James May Gallery in Algoma, and New Visions Gallery in Marshfield. Most recently, Fulwiler’s work was featured in James May Gallery’s Art of Water III exhibition in May. 

Fulwiler’s work can be found at adamfulwiler.com and on Instagram @adamfulwilerart. To see work from other local artists, attend Art on the Town on July 19 from 5-8 p.m. FOX CITIES Magazine’s booth is in Houdini Plaza.