about

The pages in this portfolio present a sample of a decade’s work. The changes over time are noticeable in both material and subject matter – from outdoor to still life, sculpture to painting. Each presents as a distinct project – lasting from a few months to a few years – as I have explored, dreamt and responded to circumstance.

In my world, objects have thoughts and feelings. Lonely vehicles wait in carparks, plaster busts gaze out the window and scraps of fabric believe they are rolling landscapes with rivers and caves. Nothing is quite as it seems.

I have included a few sketchbook pages and plein air paintings to show the workings – this is where the story comes from. Information gathering is restricted to offpeak times, when it is more likely for the shy observer to go unnoticed. Modern landscape such as carparks in the early mornings, industrial areas deserted on the weekend and shopping centres during unpopular hours. There is always plenty to see.

Torn between opposites – life and still-life, indoors and out, trying to reconcile them into one body of work isn’t easy but I suspect the subject is essentially the same: it is about looking closely to find the ambiguity in the obvious and quiet amidst the noise.

All the while, I am left wondering if the vases chat amongst themselves when the cupboard door is closed.

My studio is in the Chittering Valley, a rural area about 80km north-east of Perth,  in Western Australia.

Contact: amanda@amandawilliams.com.au

I usually sign my work ‘a.a.williams’, ‘aaw’ or simply initial with ‘aw’ to try to distinguish from the many other artists, and indeed non-artists, who share the same name. It will be signed Amanda Williams on the back.

biography
1962Born UK
1981 – 1982Science (Mathematics), University of Western Australia
1983 -1988Contract CAD Drafting
1989-2005Commercial art and design (print media)
2005Sculpture, Swan TAFE
2006Watercolour Painting, Central TAFE
2006-2007 Environmental Art and Design, Swan TAFE
2010Bookbinding and Boxmaking, Central TAFE
2007-2014Committee Member, Printmakers Association of WA
2008-2010Fine Art (Painting), Curtin University
awards
2008Mindarie Boardwalk Sculpture Festival & Awards
2007City of Melville Sculpture Prize
exhibitions
2013Centre for Book Arts, NY
2013The John Rylands Library, Manchester, UK,
2013The Cambridge Arts Council, Cambridge, Massachusetts
2011Of Spears & Pruning Hooks
2011Hollow City Chronicles
2009Underpass Motel
2009Myths, Stories, Legends
2009Printmakers Awards, Moores Gallery, Fremantle
2009Observing the Human Form
2009In Vetland, Murdoch
2009In Vetland, Newcastle
2008Print (Ed)
2008Printmakers Awards, Moores Gallery, Fremantle
2008Mindarie Boardwalk Sculpture Festival
2007Artopia, Nedlands
2007Charcoal City, Kurb Gallery, Perth
2007City of Melville, Art Awards
2007Works, Kurb Gallery, Perth
2007Midland Art Group Inaugural Exhibition, Bank Gallery, Midland
2007West Australian Print Media Awards, Cullity Gallery, Nedlands
2007First Impressions, Junction Gallery, Midland
2006Volumes, Junction Gallery, Midland
2006Environmental 2005, Junction Gallery, Midland