Between You and Me
While working in residence at the Gibbes, Williams is creating a series of narrative diptychs, exploring the act of listening to the lives and cultures of our ancestors. With a background in portraiture, she aims to challenge traditional practices by infusing figurative work with conceptual storytelling, emphasizing the beauty of diverse, multi-ethnic relationships. This series, titled “Between You and Me” seeks to create space for reflection on 400 years of history on this continent within the relatively intimate setting of 12 of her own ancestors. The subjects of the diptychs will be individuals from the artist's European lineage paired with those of African or Indigenous descent from the same time period, establishing real people within historically fictional relationships. The artist's personal history, tracing back to Pocahontas and John Rolfe, who documented the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in Virginia, serves as a poignant backdrop for this endeavor. Notably, the individuals featured in these portraits will be portrayed as children, symbolizing our human vulnerability in the realms of both the past and the potential future.
Alongside the figurative work will be small landscapes and abstracts that represent the impact of our environments and cultures. The artist designed frames for these pieces inspired by historical diptychs that were used for private devotion.
Schedule: (subject to change)
Dates: October 23—December 3
Studio 2: Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays… Fridays & Saturdays
Studio Hours: 12—5pm
Studio Open to the Public each day: 3—5pm
