Francis A. Willey – Artist Biography

Francis A. Willey is a self-taught, internationally awarded and exhibited multidisciplinary artist, whose practice spans traditional film photography, piano composition, poetry, drawing, and songwriting. Known for their emotive and introspective work, Willey engages with themes of memory, identity, loss, and resilience through a multi-expressive lens.

Born in the late 1960s, Willey came of age during a transformative era. Raised in a non-conventional and complex environment shaped by countercultural influences, they are the son of a rebellious father affiliated with the Hells Angels and other rebel bike gangs and a mother who was both an orphan, that later became a poet. Their early life was steeped in the raw authenticity of prairie life—surrounded by rodeo bronc riders, long-haul truckers, and vivid scenes of celebration, documented by their mother and grandmother using Polaroid cameras.

Willey’s formative years were marked by adversity, including familial violence, loss, and unresolved trauma. A tragic family incident left a lasting impact and underscored the absence of a secure foundation. Amidst this instability, artistic expression became a vital refuge. Through poetry, collage, drawing, and photography, they began to create spaces of healing and self-definition.

At age twelve, Willey was gifted a KODAK camera by their mother, June. The first image they captured was a portrait of her—an intimate beginning to a lifelong exploration of visual storytelling. This moment sparked an enduring relationship with the camera and the creative process.

Willey’s work is deeply influenced by nature, dreams, and the emotional richness of human connection. Their creative journey led them to travel extensively through the Himalayas and Southeast Asia, where immersive experiences in monasteries and local communities deeply shaped their worldview and artistic sensibilities. These travels during the 1990s brought a deeper complexity and diversity to their photographic work, blending cultural resonance with poetic vision.

In 2011, Willey experienced profound personal loss when a house fire destroyed their home, studio, and a substantial portion of their creative archive—including photographic negatives, drawings, darkroom equipment, and film cameras. While much of the work was lost, fragments remain and serve as powerful testaments to both vulnerability and endurance.

Today, Willey continues to work with analog processes, including 35mm film and traditional darkroom techniques, while also integrating ink, paint, sound, and digital media. Their practice is an ongoing dialogue between the internal and external worlds, capturing the beauty, sorrow, and joy that define human experience.

Willey acknowledges with respect that they live and create on the traditional territories of the Treaty 7 region in southern Alberta, including the Niitsitapi (Blackfoot Confederacy)—the Siksika, Piikani, and Kainai Nations—the Tsuut’ina Nation, and the Îyârhe Nakoda (Stoney Nakoda) Nations of Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Wesley. Calgary is also home to Métis Nation of Alberta, Region III.

With ancestral roots that are Scottish, French Canadian, Cree, and Cheyenne, Willey honours their maternal Cree heritage and the oral histories passed down through generations. They remain committed to recognizing and uplifting the languages, cultures, and continuing creative presence of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples across Canada.

Willey is deeply engaged with the local arts community through mentorship, collaboration, and artistic documentation. They are guided by the belief that art has the power to cultivate empathy and contribute to a more compassionate and inclusive culture.