Carol Rashawnna Williams
Organization Details
| Name | Carol Rashawnna Williams |
| URL | http://klove4art.wixsite.com/c-rashawnna-williams |
Organization Description
| Mission statement | A large body of my work deals with environmentalism, PNW conifers, old growth trees, endangered animals and climate change. If according to Western ideologies, as a ‘black person’ objectified by capitalism and western ideas of ‘othering,’ then ALL of my work IS black art and comes from that identity. I am that subject itself, identity itself that is not total. The problem with Western theories of identity is that difference is perfectly defined and delineated, which is an aggregate of differences. The dominate culture stamps itself in me, makes me and my identity tolerated, but by making my identity as an 'African American Artist' explicit this puts me and my work under surveillance in a way that mainstream artists are not. The problem is that the map of interculturality does not take into account the blind spots, the shadows, the slips and residue; a space where zero is a value. My work is that ZERO, neither black art nor environmental art, but 'this &.' The 2 are directly related, connected as brother and sister. Born of the same 'SYSTEM.' The nature of collinizations' ‘climate change’ and ‘patriarchal paradigms,’- Both are directly tied to a capitalist system that has raped, dismantled and left unsustainable the African American by charges of slavery, the prison industrial complex, internalized oppression, exportation of black feminine sexual exploitation and the hate of oneself. The un-equitable system of capitalism has rendered portions of Africa unsustainable and left it purge to climate change. Thru the disappearance of animals relegated to endangered species lists, so too is the parallel plight of the African American, currently being displaced, gentrified, disappeared and targeted by labels of ‘felony' and 'bad.' My work is interested in calling all these paradigms out to create new languages, in relationship to old values from indigenous and old ways of seeing. In order to bridge the gaps of what has been and what's to come we must understand both the past and the current; In 2018 America saw the first statistical poll: The 'minority' is now the 'majority' first the first time in American History.... What does this mean, when ALL of our governing systems cater to an culturally outdated methodology of difference, 'othering' and acceptance? And then we export these ideals? What can equity mean for animals, plants and natural elements (water, air, land) when these things can not speak for themselves? My artwork speaks directly to ALL of these discourses, intentionally and unintentionally...through the shadows of statement, liminal space, imagery and blatant technique: My work is the sum of that zero, un-conforming & un-commodified. Technique? I have been told by painters my large scale mono-prints are NOT paintings, yet by printmakers, that they are NOT prints...well, trying to harness my technique, is difficult and it can not be placed or labeled. The technique itself is foreign to both traditional art forms. Currently, I am exploring ecoart methodologies, collection of community stories related to climate change, 6 degrees of separation and the 'change' model by Farouk Y Sief. My creative process has spanned more than 20 years and the work I do is not easy, it is not always accepted by the establishment and it is not always understood. I sit in the shadows, in the place of the liminal and I walk in the realm of the un-place 'able', undefined and the unaccepted. |
| Service(s) description | Visual art. |
| Program impact | not provided |
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Academic Learning (1 program)
Programs that support and reinforce school-day academic instruction within any subject area - language arts, career and technical education, math, science/technology, visual and performing arts, physical education, health education, ethnic studies, social studies, and world languages - in alignment to the curriculum and academic goals for students and the district.