Gloria Williams
Gloria Holwerda-Williams
Workspace Program Resident 1992
Sculptural and flat works are manifestations of concerns and interests I have in the historical and contemporary experiences of African Americans, Native Americans, other cultures in America, and outside of the United States. Works are infused with my interest in poetry mythology, animation, graphic comics/books, science fiction films, sci-fi literature, and architectural structures. I create two-dimensional and three-dimensional, indoor/outdoor installation works in varied media utilizing sculpture, photography, drawing, crafts, and collage.
My flat works and three dimensional works often represent the natural environment as a site for the process of transmuting one thing to another. Juxtaposition of drawn objects in cloth works create a loose narrative connection. My subject matter is varied, addressing modern/historical figures and events, racial, gender, and social issues. I employ humor in some works, as a means to address subjects and opinions which agitate me.
Employing both natural and manufactured materials, Gloria Williams works in both two and three dimensions. Her work addresses social issues by tying in history, poetry, mythology and other various disciplines and backgrounds. Williams’ Untitled (made of paper, moss and stones embedded in pulp) is Janus-faced: the titled hour-glass or goblet is either full or empty; neither object nor abstraction. The hour glass/goblet lays atop an infinity symbol. The two symbols undoubtedly refer to time while their materials, one stone the other moss, tell a different story.
About the Artist
Gloria Holwerda-Williams (b. Brooklyn, NY) received an MFA from University of Michigan and honors BFA from the School of Visual Arts in NY. She has been a recipient of a Camille Cosby Fellowship to the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and granted residencies at Oxbow, Dieu Donne (NYC) and Kunst Akademie Karlsruhe (Germany). A visiting artist at the University of New Orleans' School of Art, State University of NY at Old Westbury, and NYC area high schools, she has served on panels for The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for Education, Access & Heritage, Preservation, The National Association of Artists Organizations (NAAO), and Here Gallery in NYC. She is visual artist, poet, writer, and vocalist with the music group Kanipchen-Fit. (Source: Zeigeist)