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SUE WILLIAMS |
It was not until the early 1990s when Sue Williams first gained widespread attention in the art world for her aggressive and satirical, cartoon-like images of domestic violence and sexual abuse. Her tough black and white paintings are filled with images and words based on her personal experience in abusive relationships and stories recounted to her by other abused women. Some critics dismissed this work as "victim art" while others applauded her tough-minded, feminist approach to these difficult issues.
A few years later, Williams radically shifted her style, abandoning her stark commentaries on violence against women for a colorful and lyrical calligraphic approach exemplified by Blue Foot, Red Shoe. Here, a brilliant white background is the foil for a multi-colored linear web that outlines "droopy" and "grabby" body parts, running the gamut from hands and feet to breasts, penises, and bodily orifices of all kinds. Some critics and scholars see these more recent works as "politically indirect" references to the same issues of sexual violence and misogyny Williams embraced in her earlier works. Parallels can be drawn between the work of the abstract expressionist masters Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock and Williams’ art. Indeed, Williams revels in the improvisatory gesture espoused by the New York School and admits there is "… still an underlying fear of intimacy, fear of men, childhood fears, [and] abuse issues" imbedded in her work. With an expanded repertoire of forms developed in the late 1990s,which included such fashion accessories as pointy shoes, big bows, and flared skirts, Sue Williams’ paintings now satisfy both those wanting to see women’s issues being addressed and those viewers who revel in the beauty of their calligraphic line and alluring color. As one critic noted, she has succeeded in "… merging the political with the pictorial."
- Jennifer Bayles, Educator for Special Projects