Art major Alexandra Williams has entered her senior year with a very specific focus: she wants to approach the human figure in a “spontaneous and aggressive way.”
After years of rendering the human body in various styles spawned from anime sketches, Williams hit a sweet spot when doing “doodles” — which evolved into a series of figure paintings on yellow-lined notepad paper. In a mere 10 minutes, the quick brush strokes form eye-popping paintings that draw a person in with their raw contemporary impressionism.
Williams explains how this swift pace of painting is extremely therapeutic. She states that she simply paints for herself, rather than for others. Williams enjoys taking the delicate figure and approaching it with haste, locking it in the confining space of an 11-by-17 page. It is precisely this disregard for what demand desires that leads her pieces to be incredibly compelling works of art; they bewitch a person while accosting them with their unabashed sincerity.
William’s drive to become an art teacher or art therapy leader, rather than a working artist, leads Williams to focus on splashing the colors of her emotions onto the page rather than using her talent to meet consumer demand. She humbly and charmingly does not realize that her approach creates pieces that reflect the passion and focus that so attracts people to her work. She produces exactly what the world needs more of: artistic sincerity.
Williams will be one of many student artists participating in the “Illuminate” art show, which opens Dec. 3. It’s the first of two showcases that occur are held the school year. Hosted by the Board, the Pepperdine Art Club, We Art Aware, and the Art History Student Society, students can show off their work in Joceyln Plaza under the glow of Christmas lights that mark the start of Pepperdine’s Christmas season. All students are welcome to participate in the art show; if interested, fill out a form of intent, which can be found in the HAWC, and turn it in by Nov. 14.
