“For me you’re thinking, this is pure freedom- I don’t have teachers around, thinking as a kid. They don’t really care what I do. Nobody is calling my grandmothers house if I miss a day or if I was doing something bad at school. Nobody’s making a telephone call it was just like, “Oh my god, the eye in the sky that used to watch over me and send information is gone. Now I’m just a kid- I’m thinking this is the way I like it. But, you know it was a detriment to most of the kids.” - excerpt from “Story” audio series.
I have found solace within my fathers stories since I was a child, I started to make a record for family keepsake this past year. He was born and raised in Marrero, Louisiana in a small town that was more like a family. The town remained segregated until the late 70’s.
The stories became fables, as the characters and elements that are rooted in the aspect of strife, are told from a place of gratitude and comedy. I wanted to celebrate the connection between story telling and art making. The people and experiences that mold us into who we become at the end of our journey.
Bri Williams (b.1993, Long Beach, lives and works between Long Beach and Los Angeles) received their BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2015 and their MFA from Mills College in 2017. Recent solo exhibitions include Murmurs, LA (2020); Queer Thoughts, NY (2020) and Interface, Oakland, CA (2018). Recent group exhibitions include Smart Objects, Los Angeles, CA (2021); Kunstraum Niederoesterreich, Vienna, Austria (2021); Thierry Goldberg, New York, NY (2021); Chart Gallery, New York, NY (2021).
