Tonya B. Williams (b. 1963, United States) is a self-taught artist who mainly works with acrylic on canvas. By exploring abstraction, light, color and texture, Williams creates intense personal statements masterfully designed and devoid of rules. Carefully balancing harmony and chaos, her work gives the viewer a peek inside her collective memory.
Williams' paintings don’t often reference recognizable form, enabling the observer to consider his/her own interpretation. By layering color and texture, Williams tries to increase the dynamic between audience and author by objectifying emotions and investigating the duality that develops through different interpretations.
Williams’ work is included in numerous private collections throughout the United States. In 2014, Williams was commissioned by Sonjia Young to create a painting for Dr. Maya Angelou. The painting was presented to Dr. Angelou during her last public speech at the Inaugural Women 2 Women Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
Tonya Williams currently lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia.
Williams' paintings don’t often reference recognizable form, enabling the observer to consider his/her own interpretation. By layering color and texture, Williams tries to increase the dynamic between audience and author by objectifying emotions and investigating the duality that develops through different interpretations.
Williams’ work is included in numerous private collections throughout the United States. In 2014, Williams was commissioned by Sonjia Young to create a painting for Dr. Maya Angelou. The painting was presented to Dr. Angelou during her last public speech at the Inaugural Women 2 Women Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
Tonya Williams currently lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia.
Artist Statement
My work explores the relationship between color and texture, between memory and oblivion.
Evoking memories, dreams and contemplative beauty, my art is the product of a rich heritage from my origins in Louisiana, training as an event designer and world travels.
In my paintings, I strive to create a place for the observer to reside and experience it, to join in the work’s rhythm. Painting is my sanctuary, a place of refuge and contemplation, a hideout, a shrine, a place of new direction and a tribute to beauty.
My work explores the relationship between color and texture, between memory and oblivion.
Evoking memories, dreams and contemplative beauty, my art is the product of a rich heritage from my origins in Louisiana, training as an event designer and world travels.
In my paintings, I strive to create a place for the observer to reside and experience it, to join in the work’s rhythm. Painting is my sanctuary, a place of refuge and contemplation, a hideout, a shrine, a place of new direction and a tribute to beauty.