Hixson Lied Senior Faculty Achievement Award in Research and Creative Activity /  by Sandra Williams

I am so grateful to be part of the Hixson Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts, and to be recognized with the 2024 Senior Faculty Achievement Award in Research and Creative Activity. Faculty members would not be able to accomplish nearly as much without the generosity of the HL foundation, so it is safe to say that all of the accomplishments of the past six years were facilitated by the generosity of my Director and by the administration of the HL College. almost all of my endeavors were created with the assistance of HL Travel and Project grants. But more than anything, I am grateful to have so many people behind me supporting my weird little visions and ideas- and having faith that my intuition has value to others.

Speaking of vision, I am considering taking the award and having lens replacement surgery on my eyes. Apparently they burn out the existing lens with a laser, then slice your eye open, folding the new lens like a taco and sliding it into place. I will still need reading glasses because, let’s face it, I am as blind as a bat, but it will be amazing to have improved vision without contacts.

Broken bones and other adventures /  by Sandra Williams

Hixson Lied article

We received our first public art commission in early December! Shortly thereafter I slipped going down the embankment at Holmes Lake and broke my ankle!

It’s amazing how far denial will get you. When faced with having to wait 45 minutes while it was sleeting for someone to come and help me, calling an ambulance or somehow getting back to the car myself, I just said “You know what? You’re fine” and managed to get the rest of the way down the embankment and then limp back to the car. The issue with an ambulance is the fire department would have taken the dogs to animal control. The next day was Christmas and I wasn’t willing to leave Gladdie and Arthur in the pound for two days.

I was presented with two options- I could do the surgery-meaning I could still go to Mexico, or I could not do the surgery and stay home. So I did the surgery. Mexico was great. Then I presented my paper at SWPACA- that conference is always a good time.

I will post some of my drawings for our piece at Seattle Tacoma International Airport. Until then I will leave you with a couple images of me carving a bull mask with a machete. In an orthopedic boot. Also, my college wrote a nice article about me last fall. Although I wish they would emphasize my research over my community outreach.

It's In the Bag- Key West /  by Sandra Williams

I have some pieces in an upcoming exhibition at The Studios of Key West, curated by the lovely Kevin Assam. “It’s in the Bag” Assam wanted a theme that lent itself to a host of interpretations. “Baggage as in what we carry on a trip or what we carry in our hearts?” my friend asked. “In my case, both.” I replied dryly. They are totes about baggage. Please be my emotional packmule. If you are in the vicinity of Key West, please check it out- I have two limited edition tote bags- “Doom Jar” and “My Opossum Heart” It opens January 4, 2024!

In other news, I am super excited to be heading back to Mexico at the end of January/early February for a research trip. I am taking some folk art workshops- alebrijes, wooden masks and stencils. Plus I want to check out a papel picado workshop and some other stuff. I also want to sneak away to see the butterfly migration.

Then, at the end of February, I am presenting my paper “Chip Thomas: Counternarratives to Settler Colonialism and the American Picturesque” at SWPACA. Please contact me if you are interested in The Southwest Popular and American Culture Association- I am the Area Chair for Visual Arts and would love to include new people.

Upcoming Exhibition: Haunted (and murals!) /  by Sandra Williams

I am horrifically bad at updating this.

Much has happened since the last post-upcoming events, including a sweet return to Alliance, Nebraska’s Carnegie Arts Center. The exhibition Haunted includes much of the work from Anthropocene Blues and a new series called-predictably- Haunted.

My cut paper work came about for various reasons- but mainly influenced by my residency in the Amazon- a period that forced me to take a long, hard look at art materials and practices and their impact on the environment. The other side of that coin deals with the overall murkiness of origins. For those wondering, I always return to Peru because my mother was Peruvian. While she passed 20 years ago, I still go back to that information, the way your tongue probes an open space in your mouth after you have lost a tooth. The vagueness of our indigenous heritage, the long shadow of colonialism, overall erasure, and how it happens.

You can find Los Condenados and La Uma in New Work. Currently, I am working on El Pajaro Malo and El Pishtaco- Concurrently, I am working with cyanotype, which I will sew into dresses and cut. Because why should anything ever be easy.

Comfort is a slow death by fluorescent lighting.

Exhibitions: Anthropocene Blues and Eat A Peach /  by Sandra Williams

A solo exhibition of my work, Anthropocene Blues, is now on view at The Museum of Nebraska Art. The exhibition will be on display until January of 2021.

A very new series of work titled Eat A Peach will open at Stone Soup in Key West mid December. This is my first exhibition of laser cut work. Stay tuned.

Sabbatical 2019-2020 /  by Sandra Williams

December 2019 and spring and summer of 2020 are full of events!

Anthropocene Blues: The Chimera

I have been very fortunate to receive invitations to The Studios of Key West artist residency (December 16, 2019-January 14, 2020) and Arquetopia in Puebla, Mexico February 16-March 17, 2020. I will be working on my series Anthropocene Blues during this time. There will be an exhibition of this work at The Museum of Nebraska Art in July. I recently purchased a UBEELINE tripod and ring light to make some time lapse pieces of my papercuts- head on over to my Instagram to check those out starting in December.

Anthropocene Blues: Nature and the Social Imagination explores the intersection of nature and culture through cut paper artworks. The simple act of cutting paper is a study in transformation, reducing visual information down to the essentials. In this medium, an outline alone can carry meaning and narrative. Cut paper practice carries incredible tension; a single mistake can compromise the entire architecture of a piece. Anthropocene Blues reflects this tension in its subject matter: portraits of the extinctions of species, threatened ecosystems, and the global decline of biodiversity. Research for Anthropocene Blues focuses on two specific animals: flying foxes in Australia and axolotls in Mexico. The flying fox plays an essential roles in its environment as a pollinator and seed dispersal. Its survival is proving essential for native forest regeneration in drought-ridden Australia. The axolotl is a charismatic species that draws attention to its unique freshwater lake ecosystem, which is under siege by pollution and invasive species. Currently there are more axolotls kept as pets than there are in the wild, underscoring human involvement in its rarity. Both the axolotl and the flying fox play an important part in each area’s cultural heritage, holding mythic and folkloric meaning to their respective indigenous communities.