A Female Digital Avatar of the Mind - Or Williams

About

While Or Williams pre-pandemic practice focused on her physical state and revolved around the perfection of the female body with disability; this new volume of work, emerged during the COVID-19, depicts the dialogue between technology and mind. The space between the analogue and technology-filled with glitched images channels the emotional rather than the physical, by doing so, it becomes free from physical boundaries and social conventions.

About the Artist

Or Williams’ practice is based on her medical condition and it is predominantly acknowledged by its confessional nature. As a surgeon of images, Or removes huge chunks of data from the digital file, as if she was removing organs or tissues from one’s body. This act which resonates with her recent surgical experience results in glitching and distorting in the original file and turning it into a reflection of her mental state. Williams no longer recognises her body and mind. She also seems to forget that not long ago she used to be “normal”. Folds and tips, discolourations and deformations took over her sponge-like body, a new muppet version of herself. 

Or Williams is a multidisciplinary artist based in the UK. Her work incorporates low tech imagery and aesthetic, constructs of Digital and New Media watercolour painting, photography and performance. With over 30 years of experience in ceramics and the 3D world, Or is currently in her final year of BFA from the University of Reading.

She has presented her works in Open Hands Open Space (2019), and Tate Exchange (2018/19) as part of Reading Art Lab. In these exhibitions Or focused on new media participatory performances.