William Cannings is lured to the visceral quality of inflated objects: the look, feel and smell. "Inflated objects have become a symbol of our popular culture: cheap, disposable, fun and whimsical, sometimes frivolous and distasteful," says Cannings. His work researches the effects of compressed air on permanent materials, such as aluminum and steel.   As a result, his sculptures appear as if they were sensually carved, exhibiting properties that seemingly contradict the physical properties of materials used for composition.  In his second exhibition at Pan American Art Projects Dallas, Cannings begins to play with words, aphorisms, and symbols in an inflated impermeable form. In addition, Cannings’ fascination with the inflatable progresses as he tackles the human form and the gender roles articulated in blow-up dolls.

Living and working as a professor of sculpture at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, William Cannings, English-born, first studied art at Loughborough College of Art and Design in England, followed by a BFA at Virginia Commonwealth University, and finally a MFA at Syracuse University.