Mike Williams "Orientation" Art Exhibition

“It begins with a gesture, no plan other than to paint. Guided by instinct and intuition, I explore subjects and materials in an atmosphere of stimulating music that enhances my ability to function creatively and sets my mind at ease. As I work into a rhythm of layering marks and colors, the process unfolds. Each added line, wash, smear, smudge, and scrape has a profound effect on the whole. As a composition begins to emerge, the arduous and often intriguing part of the creative process begins — the analysis. What’s working? How shall I proceed? I sit and study and give the work a chance to tell me what to do. If it doesn’t speak, I bombard it with more paint, draw on it, scrape it, scratch it or whatever it takes to move the work in a satisfying direction even if that means grinding it down and restarting. I’m an action painter at heart. Action painters act, then think. What I want to make is an exciting painting, unique to me, with lyricism and dynamics drawn from nature and life. I use no formulas to achieve this goal; each piece is characterized by this process and that ensures its authenticity. I do not consider a work complete unless it challenges or advances my understanding of painting.” – (Painting Process, Mike Williams)

Bio:

Mike Williams, (American b. 1963 in Sumter, SC)

BFA /Painting – University of South Carolina

I was born to be an avid outdoorsman with a love for fishing and a determination to pursue art as a career and that’s what I’ve done for the past 34 years. Memory, metaphor, myth, and the illustration of my experiences in nature, serve as points of departure for my abstract representational work in painting and sculpture. While I love every Bonnard and Vuillard painting I see, the Post War Era and the prevailing philosophies of the Avant-garde movement are what I relate to most. Pierre Bonnard said, “Imagination is merely the exploitation of memory.” With respect to purpose, Lucian Freud felt, “It is the only point of getting up every morning: to paint, to make something even better than before, not to give up, to compete, to be ambitious.” Without art I’d be lost, therefore I continue to fish for understanding through my daily study and practice of painting.

City Art Gallery is located at 1224 Lincoln St. in the historic Congaree Vista area in Columbia, South Carolina. For more information, contact City Art Gallery, at 803-252-3613. Visit online at www.cityartonline.com