Maurice Canning Wilks was born in Belfast, Nothern Ireland. Won a scholarship for full time study at the Belfast School of Art. Showed at Victor Waddington Galleries in Dublin, at Orieachtas there, at Anderson & McAuley Gallery in Belfast. Also widely in North America.
His work is represented in the Ulster Museum, Armagh County Museum and Bangor Town Hall. Oriel Gallery in Dublin held a retrospective exhibition in 1984.