David Wells’ “A Light Unto my Path” collection showcases fantastical storytelling in the LaRita Boren Campus Center.
The collection on display changes annually. This year’s featured artist is David Wells, a 2026 Taylor alum with a bachelor’s degree in graphic illustration. The gallery displays work that Wells created during his junior and senior years of college. The works present a collection of fantasy worlds he designed.
“What really inspired me was I always had a love for the fantasy element, the fantasy world, these vast mountains, ancient kingdoms,” Wells said. “There was so much history and mythology that was within it. There was so much to explore, so much to understand.”
His inspiration stemmed from wanting to take an adventure and explore a different world, Wells said.
Literature and media influence his art greatly, he said. J.R.R. Tolkien’s mythology and worldbuilding in “Lord of the Rings” is his biggest inspiration. The character designs in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, a video game, also inspire him.
“He’s done more than the painting,” said Jonathan Bouw, Art, Film & Media department co-chair and professor of art. “He’s done character designs and weapon design, and armor and fashion and buildings, and all sorts of things from different parts of the world he invented.”
All of Wells’ work expresses his faith since Christianity is the most important part of his life, Wells said.
His oil painting titled “We Do Not Abandon the Lost” draws inspiration from the parable of the lost son and the parable of the lost sheep. The painting takes place in a twisted, dark wood as a character stumbles into it. Just as the darkness is about to overtake him, two “Shepherd Knights” save him from the darkness, fulfilling their role to return the lost to the light.
The collection features both oil paintings and digital art.
“Although he was a wonderful digital artist and had that ability to work in that format, he was also a really good painter,” said Mark Masuoka, assistant professor of art and director of the Boren Art Gallery.
His capability to use both mediums at a high level makes his work unique, Masuoka said.
Wells’ artwork provides a beacon of light that brightens the campus, Masuoka said. The vibrancy and saturation of the color captivate the eye.
“It draws your eyes into the subject matter, and it actually makes you want to look at it,” Masuoka said. “I think you start forming your own story about what’s going on in that painting, and I think that’s when art kind of really starts resonating with people.”
Students, faculty and friends are invited to experience David’s work for “A Light Unto My Path” next to the Counseling Center in the upstairs of the Campus Center.
