James Anthony Williams

My work typically consists of acrylic and oil pastel with the addition of other mediums such as graphite or spray paint at times. The oil pastel acts as my breath, the pastel being the conduit for breath-based meditations. Thus, these creations are mindful meditation practices. Each piece being a continuous line, made during a single meditative session. My abstract work on canvas is as much about movement and motion, as much about space and silence as they are about the loud and chaotic state in which we often exist in our minds. My work is as much about the viewer reflecting on their mental state as it is a transformation of my own.

This piece is a social, cultural and political critique of America’s effects on the black community and subsequently black division amongst ourselves. We have developed a cannibalistic nature, in which often times we self-implode before any substantial progress can be made. Inspired by the works of Basquiat, the almost rudimentary abstract nature of the piece and hap hazard nature of it is a call to not only reflect the lowered mental state black artists exhibit but also reflected within the piece, playing in as well as overdoing well known stereotypes and racial epithets which have plagued us for centuries.