Brittney Leeanne Williams: The Arch Is a Portal Is a Belly Is a Back

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The new paintings and works on paper by Brittney Leeanne Williams in this show take influence from desertscapes in Victorville, a city northeast of Los Angeles where Williams spent part of her childhood. Williams transforms these Southern Californian landscapes into “emotional landscapes: representations of psychological states, memories, and emotional ties.” In speaking about her omnipresent red figure’s folded posture, Williams noted:

She bends in tiredness, she bends under the weight of heavy grief; she bends in negotiation for the ones she loves; she bends in prayer; she bends to pick up her baby; she bends to anchor herself to the ground; she bends in pleasure; she bends in caretaking; she bends because her back is out and her knees are all that’s left with strength; she bends.