Riding the Waves II | Fiona J. Williams

Fiona explicitly painted “Riding The Waves’ (2019) as a counterbalance to the many female nudes in Art History. She is actively engaged in the visual presentation of the black body in classical movement. The large majority of well-known white female nudes in the classical art canon are misogynistic at their core. Female nudes that are painted by male and for the gaze. Fiona paints the female nude with a female gaze. Her female nudes participate in everyday activities, such as swimming. They are not women without any agency but free in their bodies. The waves might suggest freedom in a tumultuous or violent world, but inherently actively struggling and partaking in this world nonetheless.

This is her second painting of "Riding the Waves" a dark black body struggles against an almost navy blue ocean. Her black afro seems not to have become wet, but her strong body has been fighting the waves crashing down on her.

Fiona's challenging past years of breaking away from the strict religious sect she was brought up in (the Jehovah's Witnesses), dealing with tumultuous familial dynamics, together with her ongoing battle with Thyroid Cancer have informed Fiona's struggle with her place in the world. But her childhood surrounded by creative outlets and subsequent education in Textile Design also informs her practice.

Her gestural portraits capture the rich inner lives of her still sitting portraits. Her paintings are full of energy, yet the sitter is still. Each image is an invitation to meditate on all that transpires in our lives and those we love.

Gallery Notes

Fiona explicitly painted “Riding The Waves’  (2019) as a counterbalance to the many female nudes in Art History. She is actively engaged in the visual presentation of the black body in classical movement. The large majority of well-known white female nudes in the classical art canon are misogynistic at their core. Female nudes that are painted by male and for the gaze. Fiona paints the female nude with a female gaze. Her female nudes participate in everyday activities, such as swimming. They are not women without any agency but free in their bodies. The waves might suggest freedom in a tumultuous or violent world, but inherently actively struggling and partaking in this world nonetheless.

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