Tucson, AZ
Will@WillBMakingStuff.com
My name is
Will Bettis
(and I make things)
Selected Work
a small preview of my portfolio
(full portfolio in progress…)
Will Bettis
Beacon
Spring 2025
CNC-carved wood, 3-D printed PLA, assorted other materials
x: 250mm
y: 250mm
z: 320mm
Displayed in "Posthumanism" exhibition, University of Arizona.
Will Bettis
Choices
Fall 2025
Photography, digital, multimedia
(featuring art & imagery which might or might not be about modern conveniences, late-stage capitalism, food monopolies, corporate greed, post-scarcity, food deserts, class disparity, and/or the systems which perpetuate/enable any or all of the above...)
Will Bettis
Pelicant
Spring 2025
Paper and ink
310mm | 220mm
Poetry by Shel Silverstein, arrangement / design is my own. Printed on OS 219 Vandercook press. Plates made of laser-cut wood and by using photolithography.
Will Bettis
Un-Finished Object
Spring 2025
Wood, acrylic, assorted other materials
x: 420mm
y: 420mm
z: 240mm
Displayed in "Post-Dimensional" exhibition, University of Arizona.
Will Bettis
Fusion
Spring 2025
3-D printed PLA, acrylic, vinyl, spraypaint, assorted other materials
x: 260mm | y: 260mm | z: 540mm
Hanging lantern. Overall arrangement & design is my own including original CAD models for the structure, top and bottom. The central images for the six illuminated panels are not my original work.
Will Bettis
Sea Clock, Fall 2024
Wood, acrylic, watercolor, assorted other materials
x: 350mm | y: 90mm | z: 400mm
The falling weight that powers the clockwork mechanism is designed without a way to rewind or reset it. In a similar way, time is running out for our ocean and marine ecosystems: contamination of food webs by microplastics, disruption of habitats from oil and chemical pollution, and the effects of climate change are pushing the oceans of the world towards collapse ... and past a certain point they, too, may be impossible to reset.
Previously on display at the University of Arizona.
Get in touch.
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Thank you for stopping by!
My focus is on using engineering, art, and curiosity to make cool stuff. My driving motivation is a desire to use my work as a means to communicate, to make bridges across cultural and geopolitical divides in pursuit of connection and understanding.
Engineering is binary. The hard-edged principles of logic and mathematical expression provide structure, scaffolding and framework that supports and animates. It amplifies, it extends. Engineering reaches around the world, and beyond it, with a relentless search for knowledge and a hunger for understanding.
Engineering explores. It challenges.
It exists where the falling angel meets the rising ape
Art is analog. It is emotion. Art tells stories. Art acts as a mirror which invites us to reflect on ourselves, our societies, our cultures. Art is a lens, zooming out for a larger perspective or moving in to provide focus.
Art connects us. Art inspires us.
Art makes us human.
Curiosity ties everything together. It is multidisciplinary. It is finding similarities between things which may be widely, wildly dissimilar and connecting them in ways that create something unique. In the larger world, as with humans, connections are more common and often run deeper than may appear at first glance.
It is my goal to use my diverse background and unique perspective to create things that inspire, that teach and provoke thought, to make artifacts and installations which spark conversation and evoke emotions and hopefully, possibly, provide catalyst for change.
So take your time. Look around, here or on my Patreon page (it’s free to join). You can also follow me on other platforms. I hope you find something that leaves you with inspiration, delight, or a new perspective.
And if you believe that I’ve been successful in my goal, feel free to let me know.
You can also reach out if you have ideas, would like to see about a commissioned piece, or if you are interested in collaborating to make something wonderful together.
Thank you!