Adding significance to the seemingly mundane
“If you’re an artist, you’re either a hedgehog or a fox. … I’m totally a hedgehog.” — Sarah Williams
Occasionally, she gets taken down to the police station on her quest to capture images of her subjects, but usually in her small hometown of Brookfield, Missouri, where she photographs most often, they recognize that she’s on a mission.
“I’m working from these terrible little snapshots that I take, and I love for them to be bad because it makes me be inventive,” Williams said.
From these resource shots, she knows the shape of the building and location of the light source, but she adds in detail and color – color is her passion – to showcase these buildings’ unique structures.
“I’m just really fascinated with how you can indicate the way of life or someone’s existence or personality through the way they’ve built whatever it is they use,” she said.
Coping with homesickness through painting
Growing up in rural Missouri has influenced Williams’ art from her earliest memories. In fact, the only art she remembers from childhood was that of the waiting room variety, and the pictures she drew of wildlife.
After moving to the Dallas metro area for her graduate work, she began taking photos on her home visits and putting this inspiration on canvas.
“I was having this crisis because I didn’t recognize anything, and I’ve always grown up in a small area where I could go by landmarks…I completely lost my sense of place.”
Through her paintings, she started to share the uniqueness and slower pace of the rural way of life, sometimes through an abandoned highway or a dark night sky against an aging industrial building.
Recently she’s begun incorporating more residential settings into her work and experimenting with the feeling of voyeurism. For her, she’s trying to capture the feeling that the viewer is standing on the sidewalk staring at the houses to see what is visible inside.
“I’ve got this series of small houses with big picture windows, and you can see the giant TVs glowing through the windows, so there’s that acidic artificial light that’s happening.”
Open-air paintings are often created in a serene location to paint landscapes, but as a student, Sarah Williams did a series of open air paintings in the aisles of her hometown Wal-Mart.
“I was in the middle of Wal-Mart where everybody was doing their shopping, and I was painting from observation – the light on the linoleum, the displays, or the bananas were $1.60.” She remembers being met with questioning glances.
Exploring her subject like a hedgehog
For a young artist, Williams has received a lot of recognition for her body of work. Her oil paintings were displayed at the Nicolaysen Art Museum in Casper, Wyoming, in spring 2014, and she showed at Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming, where she taught a course called Weekend in the Wild that took students to Yellowstone. In February 2015, she had her largest solo show to date in Houston, Texas, at the McMurtrey Gallery where she showed more than 30 pieces. She also was selected for a solo show at the George Billis Gallery in Los Angeles in September 2015 and at the Talley Dunn Gallery in Dallas in January 2016.
“If you’re an artist, you’re either a hedgehog or a fox,” said Williams. “If you’re a fox, you’re jumping all over the place with your concept and your materials…If you’re a hedgehog, you’re working through new ideas, but it looks very consistent, so to the outside eye, it’s a slow, slow progression. I’m totally a hedgehog.”
To view selected works, visit http://sarahwilliams-paintings.com/.
Nice story! I appreciate the link to view more of her beautiful, intriguing works.
Sarah I still have one of your stones that you began painting as a young artist. I am always intrigued by the subjects you pick. You do fantastic work with whatever subject you pick. Keep up the good work .
Sarah, I loved reading this article about you and your work! We found one of your duck prints when Bowdens was closing, and I think of you each time I glance at it above the chest in our bedroom.
Sarah, so happy to see this publicity for you. Great story capturing your views, and the video was a special treat to see you in action. Your hedgehog comparison reminded me so much of the surprising observations you made in your student writing for me at Brookfield. And, as always, I’ve done my personal effort at promotion for you by sharing this on Facebook.
Sarah is one of the best art teachers at MSU and I made sure she was my instructor in all my painting classes. She taught me how to look at art in different ways and I feel she made me a better artist. I am privileged to call Sarah my friend and mentor.
The interview and article were the light that shows me what a future you have. I will always have the memories on the walls of our home. You’re new work is very much out of my comfort zone, but your explanation of your concepts will encourage me to be more open to new experiences. Thanks for the glimps into your bright future.