Sarah Williams, from Springfield, MO, is nationally-known realism painter known for her cinematic and nuanced depictions of isolated and unremarkable buildings, rooms and scenes located in rural areas close to where she lives.
In her exhibition, Blanketed, Williams replaces her scenes of isolated, rural buildings with nostalgic and evocative scenes from childhood of the blanket forts.
For many years, my paintings have focused on my roots in the rural American Midwest. I love how the painting process applied to the seemingly mundane scenes existing on the periphery can transform them into portraits indicating an identity of who lives or works in a structure. This new body of paintings comes from a more playful approach to the idea of a structure and what it can symbolize. I like the way these constructed blanket forts or houses can suggest a certain childhood. The viewer can appreciate and relate to a handmade quilt, a child’s favorite super hero or animal featured on sheets. This kind of approach to the slightly familiar and reassuring blanket fort built in childhood still permits me to transform the common place and make the insignificant significant.
Sarah will be hosting an Artists’ Talk and Opening Reception Thursday, November 2, 6–9 pm, with the talk beginning at 7. The exhibition will also be open for First Friday, November 3, 6–9 pm, and runs through November 26, 2017.