Heather M. Williams
Biography
Heather Williams was born in the US Virgin Island of St. Croix and raised in Brooklyn, NY. She studied Finance as an undergraduate, but her love of creativity and strong interest in the human psyche led her to pursue graduate studies in Art Therapy and Creativity Development at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.
In 1991 Heather rediscovered her desire to create fine art and has been painting and exhibiting her work ever since. Her most recent collection entitled “The Sueno Series” consists of abstracts with a figurative motif in which she combines mixed media to create texture and movement.
Heather has exhibited in many group exhibitions and her work is in many private collections. She currently works with children as an Art Therapist.
Artist Statement
I have moved from representational work into the realm of abstract because I need to explore the many ways in which I see things. The Sueño (Spanish word for dream) series is abstract work with a sculptural quality. It has movement, texture, and earth tones, and expresses my experience of the world through my dreams – that state in between reality and the unconscious. These images are about feeling, and experience. I feel warmth, solitude and fear as I delve into the painting and imagine myself as the central figure in the piece. In addition, my work is about the relationship of one thing to another. In Nichiren Buddhism we use the term esho funi, which means the oneness of life and its environment. As I create each piece, I am constantly thinking of how the figure relates to its environment on the canvas. I see this as a metaphor for life in terms of how we relate to others. I invite viewers to move deeper into themselves, questioning and considering what else is going on beyond the surface of the image and how it can relate to their own lives.
Selected Exhibitions
2008 Fulton Art Fair, Brooklyn, NY * Second Place Winner for display
2008 Links Java and Jazz Event, Manhattan College, Westchester, NY
2008 Rotunda Gallery of Jersey City -City Hall, NJ
2005 Hudson Count Court House, NJ
2005 New York Jazz Festival
2004 Dorsey’s Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2004 Innovative Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2004 Loft Style Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2004 Pratt Art fair, Brooklyn, NY
2004 African American Museum, Hempstead, NY
2004 Fulton Art Fair, Brooklyn, NY
2004 Artexpo Atlanta, Atlanta, GA
2004 Rotunda Gallery of Jersey City -City Hall, NJ
2003 Expressions Art Gallery (Solo Exhibit), Brooklyn, NY
2003 Coalition for Educational Empowerment, New Rochelle, NY
2003 Lakeview Public Library Rockville Centre, NY
2002 Savacou Gallery, New York, NY
2002 St. Marks Bowery Gallery New York, NY and St. Petersburg, Russia
2002 African American Museum, Hempstead, NY
2002 65 Hope Street Gallery Brooklyn, NY