Lorna Williams
Gallery Affiliations: Dodge Gallery
Region: Northeast
To understand my artwork, one must first understand my relationship to my womb/birthplace-New Orleans. It was there in the moist, fragile soil that my roots took form. Live musical instrumentation made the soil of New Orleans fertile. It captures the pulse of the emotional, spiritual, and physical pain of my ancestors. Growing up in such an energetic and vibrant place taught me how to really listen and feel intensely with a deep sensitivity and reverence. Witnessing the birth process of the raw messages embodied in New Orleans jazz, blues, zydeco, and gospel music had a major impact on the development of my artistic style and method. I consider myself a visual musician. Using a system of collage and mixed media techniques, I transcribe and conceptualize musical elements into visual elements.
In my work the figures are in a freeze frame state- seemingly still- posing numb- yet all the while moving with an eternal vibrancy. I try to capture what happens within people when they experience music or produce music. I form relationships with people and I study them. I learn their energy, the sound of their voice- their body language. I develop an understanding of who they are and how their life experiences have shaped them. I combine the colors and patterns that I feel best reflect the figure's character and what it is that I feel when I am in their presence- how I see them; my interpretation.