From the gallery visit, art comes out as a functional representation. Borrowing from the works of Williams, her oil paintings in the nine standard-sized door paintings bring out a unique way through which art comes to life. The images showcase the human body as an emblem of memories and as a vessel for flesh and the experiences encountered by the African American woman (The Hole n.p). Similarly, in how bent black presents the female body, Williams’ arts manifest the malleability, strength, and hidden burdens that reflect these women’s lives. Further, I think Williams draws from personal trauma in her representations to highlight the systemic discrimination Black women have faced throughout history.
The human experience comes out surrealistically through the artist’s new approach frames her pieces. It was possible to tell that the stooped or bent bodies within the frames serve as both passageways and anchors in how Black women support both the physical and internal worlds (The Hole n.p). Through the red palette with gentle waves of cool tones, Williams generates a broad spectrum of emotional landscapes that help to evoke hose-down pools, ambulance sirens, smoky topography, and dried flora (The Hole n.p). Through the used colors, as an audience, I could not help but wonder whether Williams signified anxiety, beyond wonderment, or woundedness carried by each body.
Further from the female African American depiction of malleability, strength, and support, more comes from the arts. I have learned that Williams positions the Black woman equally as a shrine, an emblem of mourning and suffering. The artist does this by accentuating the natural contours of the female body (The Hole n.p). The planes of memory associated with each piece intersect with transcendence and transformational wellspring and future from the curved bodies. However, the most significant element of the images is the ability Williams brings to her audience by stabilizing the tension between the physical and the emotional state.
Work Cited
The Hole. Brittney Leeanne Williams: The body knows its door. 2021. Web.