“Unmade Wish” by Sherry J. Williamson, mixed media on canvas, 12×12, 2020.
ON THIS PIECE:
“‘Unmade Wish’ is a piece from my first public art exhibition ‘Whimsy and Flights of Fancy’ in which I used several individual canvases linked by the concept of flight to narrate generational differences in our culture. ‘Unmade Wish’ represents a simpler time in life for many of us, when we are still mesmerized by the magic of a dandelion, before our wish is made and the seeds take flight.”
ARTIST BIO:
Sherry J. Williamson is a primarily self-taught mixed media artist currently living in Maumelle, Arkansas. She grew up in Glenwood, a small town in southwest Arkansas on the banks of the Caddo River, where she made more dandelion wishes than she could count. She has been living in central Arkansas since 2000.
Williamson ascribes to author Brené Brown’s theory: “We are all born makers; we move what we are learning from our head to our heart through our hands.” Her early work consisted primarily of pet portrait commissions. As Williamson and her wife contemplated adoption in 2012, themes related to love, family and her hope for our world and how we all treat each other became central ideas to her creative work. More recently, her work began to include common themes of social justice, equality and inclusion.
Often referencing acceptance, encouragement and love, her work consistently includes vibrant layers of color and often features whimsical subject matter — disarming the viewer from the deeper intention behind the art — to encourage us all to imagine a more just, compassionate and equitable world.
Find Williamson’s work locally at The Bookstore at Library Square and Bang-Up Betty, online at sherryjwilliamson.com and on Facebook and Instagram.