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WBM march 2019
HIS complex journey of addition and elimination is
highlighted in paintings and because of Williams’
practice of combining the elements of many differ-ent
scenes or images, folks who encounter his pieces
often feel they recognize places that are meaningful
to them. And while few of his paintings are meant to depict a single
location, Williams appreciates this response. “There is a lot that
people can find in my work,” he says. “I think as an artist you have to
be accepting of what people see in your pieces. Oftentimes view-ers
think that they may recognize a specific location, in an abstract
way. And I do want them to feel like there is a certain place within
the artwork. I also hope that they will trace around the artwork and
not just focus on one
piece of it; I hope that
they would go full circle
when looking at art.”
Williams’ pieces
actively encourage
this type of well-rounded
engagement.
In works like those
in the “Setting a New
Course” series, vivid
and high-contrast
color palettes and
stimulating geometric
intersections of lines
and angles actively
push the viewer’s
focus around the large
48-inch by 48-inch
square canvases. No. 1
in this series features a
palette of earth tones,
with multiple shades
of blue, pink and coral,
tan and yellow with
green accents. As with
others in his oeuvre,
sections of the piece
are reminiscent of
mapping elements and
seem to depict bodies
of water and compo-nents
of a city layout.
No. 3 in the series com-prises
an even denser
array of thick, black
lines, intersecting with
small, brightly painted
Cartography Series No. 11: A New
Beginning No. 4, 19.75 x 14.5 inches,
mixed media on paper.
Detail from: Cartography Series No. 7:
Lost and Found to Woven Possibilities
No. 6, 18.25 x 12.5 inches, mixed media
on paper.