About

Billy Hunt III is a Ellensburg, Washington based multimedia artist who explores themes of communication and impermanance with different mediums; including watercolor paintings with distressed painting techniques and organic patterns, photography using vintage film and floppydisk cameras with double exposures and unorthodox lenses, and noise music with vintage 8-track and VHS tapes in addition to other audio equipment.

Early life

Raised on a farm in Badger Pocket, from a young age, Billy was deeply inspired by the paintings of Van Gogh, and Francisco Goya, as well as the Animation of Ray Harryhausen, and other early Hollywood movies. He discovered that imagery, with a certain level of discomfort, could provide the observer a sense of relief and validation if it resonated with their own lived experience. Throughout Billy's childhood, his work was heavily criticized by his deeply religious father, who even went as far as to burn some of Billy's earliest drawings.

Professional work

2020 - 2022

Billy composed and performed experimental industrial ambient and noise music with vintage audio tapes and synthesizers. During this time, he collaborated with several local Ellensburg musicians and poets on photography projects using floppy disk and 35mm cameras. With painting, he experimented with different mediums focusing on ink and watercolor, testing and documenting different ways to distort and layer, as well as the patterns and textures that would emerge as a result. He began to show some of his paintings through Ellensburg's own, Gallery One.

2022 - 2025

Billy continued to do photography while introducing techniques like double exposure and experimenting with different film stocks and unorthodox lenses to introduce distortions and create a more visually stimulating composition. He also began studying anatomy, form, shading, and calligraphy to introduce more representational elements to his primarily expressive paintings and drawings.

2026 - Present

Billy is playing with how combinations of color and form influence emotion and how unconscious background patterns can guide the observer through the composition of a painting. In photography, he has refocused to capture subjects that include both decay and growth in the same work to create a sense of conflict with what needs to be left behind in order to advance. Billy is also refining his instrument playing and songwriting for his upcoming music project.

BILLY HUNT III