Bill Claps, born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, lives and works in New York City. A graduate of Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts degree, Claps studied painting and art history at Harvard, the Art Students League in New York, and in Florence, Italy. His work blends traditional techniques with visual elements from a variety of cultures, expressed through photography, painting, video, and performance. The "Natural Abstractions" series emerged from Claps’ desire to capture the effect of light in nature, a phenomenon that is constantly evolving. As he explains, "I’ve always been fascinated by the evanescence of light and how it changes our perception of nature. Through my artworks and photographs I try to capture this light that shifts over time, like a breath of energy that connects us to everything around us." This fluidity is central to the series, where each work evolves in response to the changing light conditions of the day. This series also draws inspiration from traditional Chinese and Japanese landscape painting, which emphasizes the impermanence of the natural world and its constant transformation. Claps’ technique, which combines photography, painting, gilding, and advanced digital technologies, allows his works to reveal new textures and nuances that respond to the surrounding environment. He has continually perfected this signature process, refined over more than 15 years, which he alone can execute with such mastery. Claps' innovative approach has earned him recognition in the art world, with his works regularly exhibited in galleries and institutions worldwide, and held in private and public collections. His ability to capture the delicate interplay of light, time, and environment places him among the leading contemporary artists of today. Internationally: Today Art Museum, Beijing; MOMA Tbilisi, Tbilisi, Georgia; Photo Basel, Basel, Switzerland; National Gallery of Modern Art (GNAM), Rome, Italy, la Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica di Palazzo Corsini in Rome; Spazio Garibaldi 77, Milano; Laurent Marthaler Gallery, Montreux, Switzerland; Gallery@1, Gstaad, Switzerland; Galerie Marciano Contemporary, Paris; R Gallery, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Artgeneve, Geneva; Art 33 Gallery, Hangzhao, China; Art Monaco; Evartspace, Geneva. In the United States: Julie Keyes Fine Art (New York, Palm Beach); Marthaler Castanier Gallery, Miami, FL.; Aspen Fine Arts Gallery (Aspen, Colorado); Exhibit Gallery (Tulsa, OK); American University Museum, Washington, DC.; Trout Museum of Art (Appleton, WI); Samuel Morse Museum (Poughkeepsie, NY)