Sandra Williams is a visual artist that works across a broad range of mediums including cut paper, Community Art, murals and painting. Her work has been exhibited at SOFA New York, Ann Nathan Gallery in Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art in St. Louis, Missouri and National Amazon University in Puerto Maldonado, Peru. Her work is included in the Howard Tullman Collection, The Museum of Contemporary Craft in Portland Oregon and several private collections. She has been an artist in residence at The Studios of Key West, Key West, Florida, BigCi (Bilpin International Ground for Creative Investigation, Australia) Arquetopia, Puebla, Mexico, Wayfarers, New York, New York, The Contemporary Crafts Museum in Portland, Oregon, The Cleveland Institute of Art in Cleveland, Ohio and with the Amazon Conservation Association in Madre de Dios, Peru. Recognition for her work in Community Arts includes a Mayor’s Art Award, ten Parents Association Awards for Contributions to Students, and two Hixson-Lied Awards for Outreach, Engagement and Service.
Her most recent work contains variations on the theme of ecotone, the area where two communities meet and integrate. Traditionally, the term refers to ecological communities, such as the zone where the plains and desert meet the rainforest and the biodiversity that occurs there. Yet it can also refer the zone where “nature” and “culture” intersect—where city meets the preexisting natural environment and the tension resulting from this intersection. It may also refer to a metaphorical overlapping of narrative and place. The cut paper works tell an urgent, timely store that words alone cannot hold. The arts have long communicated issues, influenced and educated people, and challenged dominant paradigms by providing a throughway to share subtle narratives, hidden stories. Where words fail, visual arts provide a conducive atmosphere for receiving information, encouraging people to reflect on unpalatable topics through the lens of aesthetics. The work in Ecotone brings somber but vital content—remote, endangered landscapes and disappearing species—to new audiences.