Chris Wise

I have a BFA from Marshall University with a double major in Visual Art & Sociology and a minor in English.

I have been drawing since childhood and I have dreamed of a job working in concept art production since first seeing Ralph McQuarrie's paintings for Star Wars when they were shown at the Smithsonian's "Magic of Myth" exhibit. I am very fluent in all aspects of geek culture including movies, role-playing & video games, comic books & graphic novels, genre fiction, and animation. I am also interested and active in environmental, peace, and social justice causes.

I am a highly motivated concept artist who thrives in a team environment. I am very detail-oriented and I work very well under pressure and deadlines.

My personal art centers around a central theme, and I work to produce images that relate that theme in a variety of ways. This theme is inspired by my childhood trips accompanying my grandfather, who was a pastor, as he visited the sick and elderly of his congregation. I was witness to death and dying and illness, which profoundly affected me. I create art in order to process and ruminate on the transformational stages of human life. I investigate whether they are always and everywhere the enemy, or if aging and dying can ever be a time of empowerment and comfort, and to see how different cultures and religions conceptualize death and age.