The fusion of social realism and surrealism in Bryce Wymer’s evocative sketchbooks — Colossal
Mysterious light sources, geometric puzzles, disjointed characters and bold tones characterize Bryce Wymer’s diverse narrative work. The Brooklyn-based artist is known for his mysterious, emotive murals, paintings, and illustrations. Wymer’s work blends the analog and the digital, often exploring themes of social interaction and power dynamics through a lens tinged with anxiety, mystery, and loneliness.
Whether working on large-scale commissions or more intimate paintings, the sketchbook remains Wymer’s primary starting point. “I’ve kept sketchbooks since middle school, when I filled them with graffiti tags, local DIY show flyer ideas, and magazine layouts,” Wymer tells Colossal. “Over the years they have grown from casual notebooks to an important part of my creative process. I carry one with me all the time and I feel very untethered without it.”
The artist typically reads three to four books a year, sometimes experimenting with compositions on larger canvases but often keeping them within smaller formats. “Some people lose that raw energy when you go bigger, and that’s the tension I like to try to harness,” he said. “This in-between space, where an idea first lands and where it finally ends, is part of what makes this process so compelling.”
Wymer has recently focused on symbolic themes, examining what he describes as “the quiet tension and emotional complexity.” He places these characters in minimal settings, emphasizing social dynamics, as well as undercurrents of vulnerability and a sense of control (or lack thereof).
The planes of saturated color pay homage to social realism, a movement that emerged between the two world wars that made ordinary people heroes in the face of adversity, especially government-created. For Wymer, social realism is indelibly linked to emotion and collective experience, which he channels through a diverse and evolving contemporary aesthetic. “Most importantly, the sketchbook is my playground, without the expectation or fear of failure,” he says. “In any artistic practice, it’s important to have a space where there are almost no rules.”
Check out more from Wymer on his website and Instagram, and watch more timelapses on his Vimeo channel.
