Pushing
24″ X 36″
inkjet print on archival paper
Matt Williams is an artist who relies on a collaboration between his conscious and subconscious to create work that is both direct and subtle. Through the collection of pairs and groups of images as well as sequencing he explores and exposes the subtext within the work. This is a good match for his desire to allow for universal and nuanced readings of the work based on his specific personal feelings, experiences and stories.
Born in Cleveland, Williams grew up in the suburbs of both Boston and Brussels which were, at the same time, surprisingly similar and wildly different. This paradox and many others has informed his work from the beginning.
Working within the genre of family photography through both staged and candid photographs, Williams’ work is often specifically about death both literal and metaphorical, loss, and the difficulty of reconciling loss. It is about looking back to try and learn from the past while wondering about an unwritten future at once promising and menacing
Williams received an MFA in photography from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2016. His work has been shown in galleries such as ClampArt in New York City and museums including the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Some of his recent work can be found in the current issue of Paper Safe magazine. Most recently he has been at work on a new series of photographs loosely based on the history of the Aberjona river.